The Perfect End
by dukefan01
Summary: This is my ending of Bleach. Trying to fill in a few plot holes, different endgame pairings. Starts when Yhwach dies. Better description inside.
1. I'm sorry

**Before I start, this is going to be the first story that I flat out say, don't freaking flame me. I haven't had that problem yet, but I already know people are not going to like some of what I have to write, so I'm telling you now, straight up flames will be ignored or deleted. So I started watching Bleach in 2009 and I'm still fond of it, even with the shitty ending. Why? Because I love the characters a lot. I feel because Kubo rushed the ending so much, most of the characters didn't get the justice they deserved. Too many plot holes, loose ends, fates left unknown, and I did not like the ten year time skip. I didn't like the ships either, but if they had been handled a little better I may have liked them. Any way, this is my version of how it ended. I don't own Bleach, if I did this would have been what you saw. Anyway, there will be a few chapters focusing on different people. This one will focus on Uryu when the battle actually ended.**

Ishida Uryu dashed into the room. He could see Aizen, Ichigo, and Renji but his eyes immediately focused on the Quincy King himself. Uryu wasted no time in pulling back his bow and firing the silver arrow head his father gave him. He could see Ichigo and Yhwach both looked down at the teen in shock. Suddenly light surrounded the King, paralyzing him. "Kurosaki, NOW!" Uryu screamed. He didn't know how else to convey that this was his only chance, just a second. Ichigo was close, but he might not make it. If he missed, it was all over. Ichigo swung, Yhwach put out an arm to block it. Zangetsu went through the arm and body behind as easy as going through butter. Yhwach gave Ichigo a stunned look, before turning to glance at Uryu before he fell. Uryu felt a wave of nervousness and exhaustion come over him. Was it done?

Yhwach hit the ground hard and his body didn't move. Ichigo and Uryu were next to collapse. Uryu's whole body was shaking. When he first arrived in Yhwach's presence, he was made the Prince of the Quincy's, Yhwach's successor. At first Uryu thought it was because he was called the last Quincy. It was clear that the Quincy's that followed Yhwach were not of the same time. They were the followers he gathered nearly a thousand years ago before he was sealed away. Uryu figured they had been sealed away in this space like him. With them being the age that they were, they needed the extreme reshi concentration from their realm to survive. However they needed a proper place to hide that. That was why they captured Tier and hid in Hueco Mundo.

Yet when he talked to Yhwach, the man had said that Uryu had a power that surpassed his own. If it hadn't been for that, he would have died just like his mother had nine years before. Uryu hadn't thought that was true, but now he could see what Yhwach meant. Uryu was somehow able to keep himself from being seen or killed by Yhwach's Almighty power. He still didn't fully understand it, but there was only one thing he understood at the moment. The Quincy's were gone. Yhwach took his own men's power before he fell. It was back to just him and Ryuken again.

Ichigo climbed to his feet to check on Aizen and Renji, who were both right beside him. They had to get the two of them to Orihime, and fast. Uryu had no idea what kind of shape she was in, but he hoped she was alright. The last he saw her, she was with Ichigo, so she couldn't be too far away. Uryu shakily got to his feet and walked over to where Renji was. He expected Renji to start yelling at him, to refuse his help, but Renji and Ichigo just silently watched and allowed Uryu to help the red head up. He could use his Antithesis, but he had no one that he was willing to direct that much damage to. Not only that but even if he did it wouldn't change the problem, they would still have a heavily injured person. He took most of Renji's weight and turned to look at Ichigo.

"Where's Inoue?" he asked. Ichigo seemed to understand what Uryu was intending to do and supported Aizen.

"This way." he said, leading them back the way he and Renji came.

xxx

Uryu was horrified to see the shape Orihime was in. She was sitting next to Rukia, healing herself. She looked so badly hurt that Uryu didn't want to imagine what kind of shape she was in when she started. Her and Rukia looked over as they arrived. Both girls looked horrified at the state the four men were in. "Ayame!" Orihime yelled, without missing a beat. The small spirit moved out Orihime's healing shield so that it covered all of them.

"Inoue, you're going to overexert yourself." Uryu softly scolded. The orange haired girl gave them a determined look and didn't remove her shield. Rukia smiled at her. Orihime had come such a long way since they all met. They all had in fact.

"Where's Chad?" Ichigo asked. They all shook their heads to show they didn't know.

"Right here." Ganju and Sado came into the room and Sado gave them a thumbs up to show them they had defeated all that stood on the path home. The others all looked relieved. Uryu helped Renji sit down before deciding he should leave. He had no right to face the others. Not after what he had done. He had helped the enemy. He was even the second in command for goodness sake. He was about to exit Orihime's shield when a hand fell on his shoulder. He turned to see Renji just before the red-head's fist crashed into the side of his face. Uryu fell to the ground, but didn't make a sound. He deserved that.

"You idiot!" Renji yelled. Uryu sighed. Why must this group of people always use their fists instead of words? Renji grabbed him by the front of his clothes and pulled him back onto his feet. "Just where the hell do you think your going?" he yelled. Ichigo, Rukia, Orihime, and Sado came to stand by Renji with Ganju standing a little off to the side. He was there friend, yes, but he didn't know them so well. Uryu looked away.

"What the hell were you even thinking!? You were really going to die with these guys weren't you?!" Ichigo yelled. Uryu winced. That had indeed been his first intention, but that plan was shot to hell from the beginning anyway. After all he couldn't have destroyed everything when the people he was trying to protect wouldn't get out of harms way!

"Why didn't you talk to us?! Haven't we been through enough to show you we would have helped?" Rukia asked. Uryu was confused now. They weren't mad at him for joining the enemy?

"That was reckless. You should have told us what you were doing." Sado agreed.

"What do you think you dying would have accomplished?" Ichigo yelled at him. Uryu scowled. They were being the ridiculous ones. It was a war, if one life is the cost to end it, then it is a cheap price to pay.

"We're a team Ishida! You can't just run off and do whatever the hell you want!" Renji agreed. Uryu glared at the ground.

"Stop!" he ordered.

"Stop what?" Rukia asked. Uryu looked up at them.

"Stop! You should be angry at me! I helped destroy the Seiretei! I was part of a group that killed so many Shinigami! I fought you! I shot you off a platform! Be angry at me, but don't just go back to being friends so easily!" Uryu yelled at them. They all looked surprised, but then they smiled, Orihime's eyes filling with tears. Uryu was frozen at the sight of that. Orihime then hugged him, crying out of relief. Uryu tentatively hugged her back.

"I'm sorry." he said softly. Ichigo gave him a huge smirk.

"That's all we wanted to hear." he said.

xxx

Kisuke didn't know how he was alive. He looked next to him to see Yoruichi and her brother were both unconscious and Grimmjow was on his side facing away from the scientist. He looked in front of him to see Nel standing guard, looking to make sure no more enemies came up behind them. "It's over." she said softly. Kisuke looked around.

"How are the others?" he asked.

"The healing properties of my saliva can only do so much. They'll live." she said. He could just hear Grimmjow grumble something about not wanting to owe her for this. Kisuke sighed. He couldn't believe it was all finally over. Aizen, the Quincy's...they were finally going to be able to have peace. Over a hundred years of stress and constant threats, and finally peace was on the horizon.

"I guess all that's left is rescuing miss Harribel." he remarked. Grimmjow groaned.

"I helped that girl and the gorilla kid do that before we got here. She's back to ruling Hueco Mundo." he spat. Grimmjow wanted to be the King. However he was promised that if he helped he could have a rematch with Ichigo. Ichigo had to have gotten mountains stronger and he wanted a good fight. Kisuke nodded. He looked down at Yoruichi and smiled. He was a little afraid for when she woke up, she'd probably kill him for making her transform. She had always been a unique person, even as children.

Kisuke had met her when he was out exploring one day. He and Tessai were from the Rukongai and were always curious. They had creped into the Seiretei unnoticed and managed to get too close to the Shihoin estate. Yoruichi had been watching them though and was impressed with their skills. So she came to say hi. After that they started to come and see her, but soon found out it was not reasonable. So Yoruichi set up a secret training ground where they would all meet up at least once a week. Eventually they all started to train there, wanting to be shinigami. Yoruichi was one of the few who never saw him as creepy when they were kids. She liked that he was interested in science and other things that most people avoided. He shuttered to think of what would happen if he lost her. She had always been there, like Tessai. He could hardly remember life without them, and didn't want to know what it would be like if they weren't there.

"Then we should check on Kurosaki and the others." he said.

xxx

Ryuken lit a cigarette and began heading towards the portal to leave. "You're a real piece of work you know." Isshin said. Ryuken paused.

"How so?" the younger man asked. Isshin folded his arms.

"You came all this way only to deliver an arrow head and then leave without even talking to him?! You're one hell of a model father you know." Isshin taunted. Ryken took a deep inhale of smoke before slowly letting it out.

"We haven't seen eye to eye for years. At this point any words are meaningless." Ryuken said. Isshin shook his head.

"I haven't even been able to count how many times our boys nearly were killed in the last two years, but one day that luck just might run out. Don't keep wasting the time you have." Isshin scolded. Ryuken took another long drag on his cigarette.

"As if you have any room to talk. Since when did you get wise anyway Kurosaki?" Ryuken asked. Isshin smiled.

"I don't know if your calling me that out of spite, or if you finally accepted me." Isshin said. Ryuken started walking again.

"You should at least tell him that your happy that he's alive." Isshin said, following him. Ryuken flicked some ashes from his cigerette.

"If you know that, then you tell him." he said. Isshin mumbled about it not meaning the same thing. Ryuken meanwhile was lost to his thoughts. He was glad Uryu was alive. He was proud of the boy and glad he found friends. He trusted Uryu completely, and he hoped all of that was clear when he gave him the arrow forged of the silver from Katagiri's heart. She was finally avenged, and now they were all at peace.


	2. The hospital

The makeshift hospital was a mess, but Isane was intent on running it just like Unohana would have if she was there. The injured were being cared for and she had sent some out to gather the officers. She was worried. SoiFon had ran off, saying something about finding Yoruichi. Marechiyo was with one of the healers, watching them heal his little sister. Izuru was in critical condition, whit a huge portion of his body being missing, but Mayuri had said he would use his flesh growing serum to fix it. Shuhei was unconscious and in critical condition as well, having been shot through the shoulder and into one of his lungs then out his side. However one of her talented division members was healing him. Hanataro had tried to insist that the division member leave it to him, but the man had insisted that it was his job to heal the ninth fukutaichou. Isane remembered the man as Aoga. He had talked very highly about Shuhei, having been friends with him in school. Isane had allowed him to continue. Sajin no longer had his humanity and instead was only a large wolf now. The entire thing was a mess.

"Hey sis." Kiyone said, standing next to Sentaro. Both looked completely emotionally destroyed. Isane knew she had to ask, but she didn't know how.

"You both look unharmed." she started, wondering how to ask. She didn't want to come right out and say it, but Shunsui was also wondering around looking lost. Jushiro wasn't in the hospital, so it only left one option.

"Taichou is gone." Sentaro said, just saying what she wanted to know. Isane felt like someone had slapped her. Yamamoto had founded the Gotie thirteen nearly three thousand years ago, and after he sealed away Yhwach, he created the Shino Academy. Unohana taichou was from the very first generation of the officers, and Jushiro and Shunsui were part of the first generation of the Shino Academy. The three of them were the veterans. She, like all the others, had just assumed since they were there long before them that they would continue to be there long after they were gone. However Yamamoto, Sasakibe, Unohana, and now Jushiro were gone. The only one left to represent how things were was the new leader, Shunsui.

"He replaced the Soul King. He's gone to us." Kiyone elaborated in a hollow voice. Isane nodded, then she pulled her little sister in a hug. Kiyone idolized Jushiro. Her and Kiyone came from the rukongai, just like many of the others. It was the lower districts, so life wasn't overly difficult, but it sure as hell wasn't only had each other for the longest time. When they went through the Shino Academy they had found that the two sisters had very different skill sets. Because of that, they were separated. Isane went to the fourth, and Kiyone the third. For both of them they had finally found a home, people that they could relay on besides just each other. For that they each found someone to look up to, to give them guidance. To Isane, that was Unohana. For Kiyone, that was Jushiro. Kiyone then pulled back, giving her sister a small smile.

Kiyone couldn't bear to give her sister any more to worry about at the moment. Isane was currently in a position where every life in the Seiretei was in her hands. She didn't need to worry about the little sister who had no physical wounds. Isane seemed surprised for a second, but then nodded as she seemed to get the message. Besides, Kiyone had something else that Isane didn't have. A rival and best friend who would protect her and look out for her. Hanataro approached the three, looking a little worried.

"Kotestsu-fukutaichou, we need your help with the arrival of Muguruma, Otoribishi, and Zaraki taichou's." he said. The acting taichou nodded and left with him. It was going to be a rough few days.

xxx

Momo sat beside Toshiro and Rangiku as a doctor was looking over the two of them. Shinji was gone, most likely at the side of Kensei and Rose. They had been living together for a hundred years, they were all family at this point. Toshiro had a small smile on his face, as did Rangiku. "What happened? After everything that happened you two actually look happy?!" she said. Rangiku laughed.

"It's because he's alive. Taichou mentioned before that when they went to help Ichigo in the Fullbringer mess, that he thought he saw him, but he wasn't sure. Yet there was no mistaking it this time. We were even at his house and we never knew." Rangiku said. Momo was confused.

"Who's alive?" she asked.

"Our taichou, Shiba Isshin." Toshiro said. Momo suddenly made the connection. Isshin was once a member of the branch family of the Great Noble Clan Shiba. He had taken over the tenth division after the last taichou and fukutaichou had died in an accident over a hundred years ago. He went without a fukutaichou for a long time, but eventually promoted Rangiku to the position. Then when Toshiro arrived he was immediately raised to third seat. Momo remembered hearing about it a lot. After she had become a member of the fifth division, Toshiro had met Rangiku and she encouraged him to go to the Shino Academy. Since she was the one that brought him, it was her division that he joined when he graduated. The taichou quickly raised Toshiro to the third sea position and focused on training Toshiro to succeed him if he ever died or retired. Then twenty years ago he went to the human world without orders and never returned. People didn't know if he deserted the Gotie thirteen or was killed. However the fact that he was indeed alive and his family fell from power immediately after he disappeared showed that Central Forty-six was thoroughly convinced he abandoned them.

"He was in Karakura town all this time, under the name of Kurosaki Isshin." Toshiro said. Momo nodded. She supposed that made sense. After all eleven other officers as well as the substitute shinigami that they had no idea what happened to were all also in Karakura Town. Since it was so concentrated with reiatsu for the human world, it was an easy place to hide in. Also with eleven other former officers showing up it wasn't so surprising to find a twelveth...Momo gave them all a confused look.

"Kurosaki? Like in, Kurosaki Ichigo?!" she asked. The two nodded.

"Yeah, he's Ichigo's father." Toshiro said. Momo blinked slowly, processing that.

"So you're saying Ichigo's father is Shiba Isshin?" she asked. The two officers nodded. Momo was confused. Isshin only left twenty years ago. Therefore Rukia should have known what he looked like. Yet she never once recognized Ichigo's father as Shiba, even though she ended up interacting with him quite a bit?!

"Apparently Kuchiki Rukia noticed the connection in appearance, but she never sensed any reiatsu from him. She must have chalked it up to appearances since Ichigo looked so much like Shiba Kaien too. It turned out Urahara Kisuke had given him a gigai that hid his reiatsu, so there was no way for her to actually know." Toshiro said. Momo nodded. That made sense, in a way.

"Did you get to talk to him?" she asked. She knew that despite the two always complaining about how lazy the taichou was, they still looked up to him and cared about him a great deal. To her dismay the two shook their heads.

"No, he left before we could. That's alright though. As long as we know he's alive, that's enough for now." Toshiro said. Momo nodded and smiled.

xxx

Ise Nanao watched as the injured just kept coming in. She shuttered, thinking about just how many people were lost or injured after this Seiretei was completely in shatters, it would take years to rebuild. Since Shunsui only liked to do things at his own pace too, it meant most of the work would now fall on her shoulders. The thought was not a uplifting one. "Are you alright?" she turned to see Lisa standing behind her, and Nanao immediately looked away.

Lisa was like a big sister to her. She taught her to read, how to be a shinigami, and looked after her. Nanao lost her mother at such a young age, and while her foster parents were wonderful people, she left them early to join the Gotie thirteen. She had wanted answers, but instead found that thrawrted by Shunsui, having moved her into his own division. She knew he was doing it to look out for her for her late mother and his late brother. However it ended up working out for her. She got to spend time with him and Lisa, who were the best family she had known. Yet Lisa disappeared a hundred years ago, on the night they were supposed to read together. She heard from Shuhei, who was completely overjoyed that Kensei was alive, that Lisa had been on the battle field in the winter war against Aizen. Since then she had only wanted to see Lisa again. However when she did, it was her in a moment of weakness and Lisa telling her not to give up.

"I'm fine." the young woman said quickly. Lisa smiled.

"I see. I heard you fought well. I wish I could have seen it." she said. Nanao turned to face her, face glowing with the praise.

"I'm a soldier too." she said firmly, showing that she could indeed fight. Lisa nodded, agreeing with the statement.

"It's a mess isn't it." she remarked, looking around. Nanao nodded. It all was. The physical structures, the people left behind, the state of affairs. It was all in ruins. "Good thing we're good at rebuilding." Lisa continued. Nanao paused at that. The statement was pretty true actually. For the last two years they had to constantly adapt and rebuild. In the long run, she assumed it was all thanks to Aizen. If Aizen hadn't done all the shit that he did, then they wouldn't have ended up with a champion like Ichigo who was now strong enough with his friends to take on such a monster as the Soul King's son.

"Do you know what happened to Aizen?" she asked, recalling that that little piece of the puzzle had not yet, to her knowledge, been resolved.

"He was healed and placed back in the Muken." Lisa said. Nanao didn't know how to feel about that. The man had tried to kill them all, and for that eight innocent officers were sentenced to death and three more had to turn traitor to save them. Then he waged war, taking two more taichou's with him and causing so much physical and emotional damage to so many people. However she had to acknowledge that if Shunsui hadn't pulled him out, and Aizen hadn't decided to assist them, they would all be dead now. Ichigo, Renji, and Uryu would never have reached Yhwach in time and the man would have destroyed all of existence. It didn't excuse what he had done, but she also felt that maybe he decided better than to return to the Muken. Yet she would never say such a thing to Lisa, who probably wished Aizen had a much worse punishment that what he had received.

"I see, that's one less problem I have to worry about." she said. Lisa smiled and pulled the smaller girl into a hug.

"I think you need to stop worrying about everything for a while." she said.

 **So yeah, I didn't think this story would actually get any attention. I wanted to do stuff with all the characters healing a little, some immediately like these guys, and some will be a week later, like the next chapter. Until next time. Oh, and the name is a pun on the last chapters, I am in no way saying this is actually a perfect ending, it's just my version of it.**


	3. Decision

Rose let out a small groan as he sat up. Looking around the room he could see he was in a makeshift tent hospital, and he was not alone. Sitting nearby, sleeping, was his fukutaichou Kira Izuru. In the room there were two other beds, both occupied. One was Kensei, bandaged just as heavily as he was,looking up at the ceiling like he wanted to kill something. The other was Kensei's second, Hisagi Shuhei. Sleeping with their head on Shuhei's bed was the other co-fukutaichou of the ninth, Kuna Mashiro. Rose smiled softly. He had no idea what happened after he was taken down by the 'Super Star' Quincy, but he did know that Izuru managed to survive, as did the rest of them.

"Your awake." Kensei said in a rough voice. To Rose, it sounded like he hadn't used his voice in a while, so they must have been out for a decent amount of time.

"How long was I unconscious?" Rose asked.

"About a week since the war ended." Izuru answered, now looking fully alert. Rose nodded. He looked over Izuru for a moment, making sure to assess how much damage the boy had suffered. He looked well, some bandages around his arm that Rose was mildly sure had been missing before the finale war had even begun.

"What happened?" he asked. Izuru sighed, as if he didn't want to give the report, but from both Taichou's expectant looks, he knew he had to.

"The Quincy army was completely obliterated. The only Quincy's that remain are the Ishida Family, that assisted our side by infiltrating the enemy and helping destroy them from the inside. The casualties in total from the war include Yamamoto, Sasakibe, Unohana, Komamura, Kusajishi, Kurotsuchi Nemu, and Ukitake. For now Kotetsu Isane, Iba, and Kuchiki Rukia are acting taichous of their divisions. Currently the seiretei is in ruins. Many Shinigami have been killed or are still in critical condition, the final count has been unable to be made at this time." the blonde said. He could see the heavy looks that came on Rose and Kensei's faces. They had indeed suffered quite a few heavy blows.

"And you and the kid?" Kensei asked. Izuru knew he wanted to know what happened to him and Shuhei specifically. He signed, not sure how they would react to hearing this.

"Hisagi had managed to survive the encounter with the Quincy Mask and was taken for emergency medical treatment. He was re dispatched the next day with Abaria, Kuchiki Rukia, Kuchiki Byakuya, Madarame, and Ayasegawa. He took down a quincy on his own before joining with Kuchiki Byakuya to take down the Quincy Pepe. However the man took control of Hisagi and forced him to fight Kuchiki. Kuchiki tried to immobilize him, but he was unsuccessful. Hisagi was defeated by the arrival of Kurotsuchi Mayuri. He was again taken for emergency medical treatment and left again with a group of Shinigami but was shot by the Leader of the Schutzstaffel Lille Barro. He's still recovering from that. I was saved by Kurotsuchi Mayuri and returned to the battle at the end to help clean up the remaining mess." Izuru said. Kensei scowled.

"So after all that training the punk never used his banaki, even once?!" he yelled. Kensei was furious, but Rose was sure it was more to the fact that Shuhei got hurt as much as he did instead of actually not using his banaki. It was no secret Shuhei hated his shikai, there was no way he would just go out and use his new banaki. It takes nearly a decade of training to properly use it anyway, so the kid probably didn't want to chance using it.

"I feel like your leaving something else out Izuru. What happened to me and Kensei?" Rose asked. Izuru paled, showing that was something he really didn't want to talk about.

"You were both killed before you could be treated after fighting Mask. The Quincy Giselle Gewelle turned you both into zombies. Kurotsuchi Mayuri used the opportunity to turn you both into his zombies and had you defeat her. After that he took the two of you with his zombie arrancars to Kuchiki Byakuya. Muguruma was the one who took down Hisagi. After that Muguruma took down Pepe and you were both saved." Izuru said. Kensei turned red.

"I'm going to kill that bastard." he hissed. Rose felt a little wave of disgust as well, being used by Mayuri like that. However he must have had it easier since he didn't beat his own second officer into the ground. Rose sighed.

"I'm just glad your all alright." he said. He was talking about all four of the other occupants in the room, but he did focus on Izuru. If he didn't have the young man around he would be lost as an officer. Chikane was a good second, and he is sure her son would make a good taichou one day, but something about Izuru made him a more desirable partner. Kensei meanwhile just sighed.

"When those two recover, we're training." he hissed. Rose and Izuru decided not tell him that there might not be a need for that.

xxx

Iba Tetsuzeamon sat at the grave for Tosen Kaname's friend. It felt really odd for him to be here. When this nameless woman died she was buried here by Tosen. The man would come and see her constantly, as if he needed to see her for strength. Sajin had befriended him and came with him on many occasions. Then after Tosen betrayed them and left, it was a place Sajin and Shuhei frequently came to, as if the nameless woman would give them advice on how to handle it. After Tosen's death, they buried his zanpakuto here, making the grave both the woman's and Tosen's. Since then both Sajin and Shuhei frequently came to see him. Iba never once came. He felt like he was intruding on Sajin's friendship with both Shuhei and Tosen if he did. Now however was a very different story.

Sajin was not dead, but he was gone. He was now just a wolf, wondering around in the rukongai. Iba had wanted to keep him around, but knew he could never in good conscious turn the man he looked up to and admired into a 'pet'. So he was set free. Sajin had no reasoning, no memories. He was a beast now. Yet this grave would now hold the body of the nameless woman, the soul of Tosen, and the memory of Sajin. He figured he'd have to inform Shuhei, not a task that he wanted.

Now he was acting taichou, yet he faced the prospect with great fear. Now he fully understood how Shuhei, Momo, and Izuru felt two years ago. He could never live up to the man whose shoes he was trying to feel. It just would never seem right. It's been a week, yet it still did not feel real. Ichigo and his friends were still around, recuperating from the battle. Many of the others were still in critical condition. Kenpachi had yet to wake up; Rose, Kensei, Shuhei, and Mayuri were still bedridden. Izuru was barley on his feet. The divisions were not even at half of their capabilities, and so much needed to be done.

Iba knew he would have to get stronger so he could properly lead his men. At the state he was in now, he was too weak to do it. So he would train hard, achieve bankai, and show his men that this was not the end. It was what Sajin did after all.

xxx

Marechiyo smiled as he watched his little sister play in what was left of the yard. She looked so full of energy it was almost hard to believe that just a week before she was on death's door. "How is she?" he turned to see Soi Fon standing behind him.

"She's well Taichou. Did you get a chance to speak to Lady Shihoin?" he asked. He didn't care much for Yoruichi, but didn't want to make Soi Fon mad today. He just wanted things to be peaceful for now. She nodded as she sat down beside him.

"Yes, she's finally awake again. I think Urahara may not be so lucky this time though. She's very mad at him." Soi Fon said with a huge smile. She loved it very much when either Kisuke or Shinji were in the hot seat, especially with Yoruichi. Marechiyo gave her a nervous nod. "How are the rest of your family?" she asked. Marechiyo looked back towards the house.

"They survived." he said. Soi Fon had a soft spot for his father, since he was once her superior. The rest of the family were almost completely unharmed. Soi Fon nodded. She had actually been just as worried as Marechiyo was. Her five brothers were dead, she wouldn't stand by and watch someone else loose a sibling when it could be prevented. The two just sat in silence for a while, not really knowing where to go next. Soi Fon then stood up.

"There is a lot of work to be doing." she said, and turned to leave. Marechiyo stood up as well and Soi Fon turned an angry look onto him. "I didn't say you should come. Stay with your family." she said. However Marechiyo smiled.

"Taichou, this is very unlike you. You are always the one who is saying work comes first. My family is fine, the division is what needs us. I promised to follow you, and that's what I'm going to do." he said. Soi Fon smiled, apparently she approved. She then turned and kept walking.

"If that's the case, then stay behind me." she ordered. He nodded.

"Yes ma'am." he agreed.

xxx

Ichigo looked around the room they were in. Renji was sprawled out sleeping, snoring loudly in the night. Uryu was on his side, as if he was trying to make himself as small as possible. Chad just laid on his back, not even making a sound. Orihime was curled up on herself, as if she was shielding herself from nightmares. Rukia was sitting beside him, watching their friends just as carefully.

"They finally fell asleep." he said in relief. She nodded. None of them had wanted to sleep much the past week, instead trying to help the others as much as they could. Many times the Shinigami would send them away, but they wouldn't leave so easily. Orihime had been working relentlessly in the makeshift hospital, healing as many people as she could. Uryu had been helping her, using the first aid knowledge he had. Renji had been trying to help Byakuya with their division, but the man just kept sending him to help Rukia with hers. Then Sado was going around helping clear rubble trying to save as many people as they could. For Orihime and Sado, they wanted to be as useful as they could. For Uryu, he was trying to make up what he felt that he owed. It took Hanataro threatening to sedate them for them to even agree to go get rest every night.

Of course Ichigo was doing everything he could to help as well. Even the zero division were helping. Hikafune made massive meals and Kirinji set up huge hot springs. The other three were not so good at healing people, but they did find other ways to help. Even the Kido Corps were assisting. Ichigo was sure with everyone working hard like this, they were sure to get the Seiretei up and running as soon as possible. Yet they would still need help. Uryu and the others were only humans. They had their own lives to get back to.

"I made a decision." Ichigo suddenly said, causing Rukia to turn a startled look to him. What was he talking about?


	4. Support

"So that really is your decision." Uryu commented. Ichigo nodded, but no one in the room looked surprised. The others had all assumed it would come down to this. However they wanted to make sure their friend had completely thought this through. It wasn't a decision that only effected the foreseeable future, but the rest of his life.

"And your family? Tatsuki and the others?" Orihime asked. Ichigo smiled.

"Apparently Shunsui went and saw them before the Quincy's invaded the final time. He gave my dad, my sisters, and our friends all tickets that allow them to come and go from the Soul Society whenever they want. And if you guys want to come visit me, Urahara can always help." Ichigo said. They nodded.

"Well, if this is what you want." Sado said calmly. Sado had been with Ichigo the longest. He had only started fighting again to protect Ichigo and their other friends. He had spent the last few years backing up every decision that Ichigo made. He would continue to do that now. He had actually predicted that Ichigo would decide to stay in the Soul Society and join the Gotie thirteen. After all, Ichigo was the type of guy who wasn't happy unless he was doing what he knew he was best at, protecting others. He could never just go back to being a simple human again.

"I assume you're going to ask me to take over protecting the town again." Uryu huffed, trying to sound annoyed with the decision but ultimately failing. They could all tell he supported Ichigo completely as well. Not only was it what Ichigo wanted, but he knew it was for the best as well. Ichigo had trained so hard to be able to defeat Yhwach, and because of that his reiatsu was on a whole other level now. He couldn't just go back and live in the world of the living any longer without being a threat to those around him. That was why Shunsui gave Ichigo's family and their friends the tickets in the first place. He knew he may not be able to just let Ichigo go back.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Ichigo said, but from his tone and the smile on his face, they all knew he wasn't sorry in the least. Yet Uryu didn't really mind. He had taken over as protector of the town before, he could easily do it again.

"Well, have you decided what division your going to join yet?" Renji asked, genuinely curious. After all that happened, the Seireitei was in pieces. The Shinigami were physically, mentally, and emotionally drained. However with Ichigo staying around, it could just be the big moral booster that helped pull them through. Ichigo became that dark horse they all bet on, and in the end came through not only once, but repeatedly. To them, he was a hero.

"Fool, isn't it obvious." Rukia yelled, kicking Renji for asking such a stupid question.

"It's the thirteenth division isn't it." Orihime said. Ichigo nodded. How could it be anything else? Orihime knew just how deep Ichigo's devotion to Rukia went. If it wasn't for Rukia, Ichigo would never have been a shinigami to begin with. She opened him up to a whole new world. Actually, she opened all of them to a new world. If it hadn't been for Rukia, they wouldn't have formed the group that they did. She probably would never have really gotten to know Ichigo, or Uryu, or Sado. She would never have gotten to go on the adventures that she had, develop the powers to save the people that she had. She wouldn't have gotten to meet Rangiku or the other Shinigami. Then there was the matter of Yhwach. He would have taken Uryu, and may have succeeded in destroying the whole world.

Rukia was someone Orihime knew she could never compete with. She had loved Ichigo a lot, but his heart was not hers. Rather it was Rukia's. At first Orihime thought she was fine with that. She tried to trick herself that she could easily accept that. However when the arrancars began showing up, she realized she wasn't alright with that. She wanted to be there for Ichigo, to be his equal. Now, two years later she was finally on the same ground as the others. They saw her as someone they could depend on, and not just go to after the battles had ended. Yet even though her and Rukia were now equals on the battlefield, they were not equal in love.

Orihime wanted to speak up, to tell Ichigo about how she felt. She knew this would most likely be her last chance. Yet she didn't. She just smiled. She knew that it would only bring pain to them all. A hand came on her shoulder and she looked beside her to see Uryu. He wasn't looking at her, but at Ichigo and Rukia who were now talking with Renji about different divisions. She smiled and put a hand over his, showing her thanks for his support.

"So, when do we all want to go home?" Kisuke asked with a sing-song voice, hiding a black eye behind his fan.

"Oh yeah, I meant to ask you, what happened to your eye?" Ichigo asked. He couldn't remember Kisuke having that when he visited the man in the hospital.

"Let's just say he meddled in affairs he shouldn't have." Yoruichi said, holding up a fist to say she was the one who did it.

"Urahara, can I ask you something." Uryu suddenly spoke up. His tone was different now, a serious one. Kisuke nodded, closing the fan to match the new mood.

"Yhwach said he can move through time, that he would come back in the future when we were the happiest. Do you think..." Uryu started, but Ichigo lightly hit him upside the head.

"There's no need to worry about that now. If he does ever come back, we'll just beat him up and send him back." Ichigo said with a smile. Uryu glared, as if to say Ichigo was taking the situation all too lightly. They were only able to kill Yhwach by using the arrow from his mother's heart. They didn't have such a resource in the future.

"Not to worry, I'll thoroughly investigate the matter. For now, you should worry about your own lives." Kisuke scolded lightly. He didn't need seventeen year-olds worrying about the future.

xxx

Shunsui sat down to have a drink on the couch, looking over the reports. As of now all the officers were awake and ready to act. The divisions were running at the highest capacity they could afford. The Shino Academy was ready to pull out the files of all the graduates who had never been assigned to divisions so they can start re stalking their manpower. Reconstruction was already under way, and recruiting to bring in new people was at its fullest. Ichigo and his friends were also a huge help. He could also close the book on all the missing officer cases, knowing that the last one had been found. It wasn't a bad start after the hell they had all been through.

"It's not healthy to drink alone you know." Lisa said as she plopped down next to him, grabbing a cup for a drink herself. Shunsui smiled. He usually drank with Jushiro or Rangiku, but now Jushiro was gone and Rangiku was busy. He refilled both his and her's cups.

"I need to get new officers placed quickly." he said. She nodded. "The eighth has no taichou or fukutaichou at the moment." he said. Her eyes narrowed at him.

"Don't even ask." she shot down. He pouted.

"Why not? You would make an excellent Taichou. My old third seat Tatsufusa Enjoji is a good man. He would help you out." he said. She scowled.

"We were forced out of the Seiretei, what makes you think I'll come back so easily?" she asked. He gave her a sly smile.

"Because I asked you to." she threw a cushion at him. "Besides Shinji, Rose, Kensei, and Mashiro are already here. I was planning on offering Love the position of the seventh Taichou. After all, Iba is a good kid but I don't think he's ready to be Taichou yet." he said. Lisa sighed, and he could tell she was already caving in.

"Don't you have fukutaichou's with bankai's?" she asked. Shunsui sighed.

"We do, but they are pretty fickle guys. Renji won't leave Byakuya's side. It's the same with Shuhei and Kensei. I'm sure Ikkaku has a bankai too, but he hides it so he won't have to leave the eleventh division. Unfortuantly you can't just order someone to be a taichou, it's a promotion opportunity and they can refuse it." Shunsui said. Lisa threw back the drink she had.

"I'll talk to Love, but I don't think he's as easy to convince as I am." she warned. He smiled.

"Wonderful. I hope you can both get back soon, I really want to get things moving again." he said. Nano came in and paused, seeing Lisa.

"Sorry, I'll come back at another..." she started.

"Don't be silly Nanao, get in here." Lisa dismissed the concern. The young woman smiled and nodded as she came fully into the room, ready to deliver the next report.

xxx

"I wonder what Ichigo and the others are up to about now." Ikkaku mused as he leaned back on the porch. Yumichika sat beside him, looking at the ground.

"Who knows. Taichou seems really upset right now, and there's not much else to do." he agreed. Kenpachi had indeed been withdrawn ever since he woke up after treatment. They didn't know all the details, but the two officers knew one thing for sure. Yachiru was gone and she wasn't coming back. Kenpachi didn't really explain it, but from it sounded like, Yachiru was actually his zanpakuto. To be honest, both males missed her a lot about now. Yachiru was the one who brightened everything up in the dark world. She had such a happy disposition, and the child innocence of having her around made things much more lively. Now the entire eleventh were down.

"Maybe we could go see if there's anything we can do." Ikkaku mentioned. Yumichika gave a small nod. They were not injured anymore, so they could do something to assist in the recovery. Even if the eleventh only specialized in fighting and killing. Ikkaku then looked at Yumichika. "What were you about to do?" he asked suddenly. Yumichika was confused.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"When I got hurt against Hitsugaya, you went to call your zanpakuto. That wan't the usual command to release it." he said. Yumichika had nearly forgotten that. In his panic at the idea that Ikkaku was about to die in front of him, Yumichika was going to release his true zanpakuto. However he got beat down before he even had the chance.

"I don't know what you're..." he started.

"We're not idiots. We know you've been hiding your real shikai. I don't know what it is, and frankly I don't really care. I do know that you don't like it, but you were willing to use it to help me. Thanks." Ikkaku said with a smile before getting up and walking away. Yumichika watched him go, then turned red. They knew! He had been so careful to hide it too! However they didn't reject him like they thought they would. They still stood beside him. That alone made him happy.


	5. New Taichous

Hiyori walked down the destroyed road, kicking up a few rocks as she went. It had been two weeks since the fall of the Quincy's and she knew her, Ichigo's friends, and Kisuke's group would be going home in the next few days. The idea of returning home alone, without the others, was not one she wanted to face. Over the last hundred years she had become close with her seven other living companions. Now most of them were staying here. She got offered the opportunity, but turned it down immediately. She had no desire to work under Mayuri. The asshole always acted superior to her when he was below her. She had no desire to work under him now. Looking over her shoulder she thought about the Taichou Promotion ceremony that was about to start. She had decided not to attend due to her mixed feelings about possibly getting left behind.

"You've grown up so much Hiyori." she heard. Hiyori paused. She knew that voice. She turned around to see Hikafune, looking small and pale, but it was her. Hiyori ran over, happy and upset to see her at the same time. Hikafune was the closest thing Hiyori had to a mother. She hadn't seen her in over a hundred and ten years and had missed her terribly. She had heard that her former taichou had been around, helping by making special reishi infused food to help recover the shinigami who were still hurt. She must have been running herself into the ground doing that.

"I thought the Royal Guard didn't get involved in the affairs of the seiretei." she said in a putout tone. Hikafune smiled, as if she didn't mind in the least.

"Normally we don't, but Ichigo helped us so we are returning the favor." she said. Hiyori pouted, not liking the answer. "I heard you were still here, so I had to come make sure you were well. I saw Shinji, but you weren't with him." she said. Hiyori frowned.

"You mean baldy didn't tell me you were looking for me. That guy." she growled. The taichou laughed.

"You get along as well as ever." she said. Hiyori scowled. "Why don't you come walk with me and tell me all that you have been up to?" she asked. Hiyori smiled, that actually sounded nice.

xxx

Shunsui stood at the front of the room, Okikiba and Nanao behind him. On the even side of the room Soi Fon and Marechiyo started the line. Beside them was Isane, by herself. Shunsui knew the fourth division needed a taichou the most currently, but Isane wasn't ready to take over such a demanding job. She would just have to remain the acting taichou for now. He had actually asked Hachigen to do it, but the man refused on the grounds that he was not a healer. Shunsui decided to make sure Isane was getting help from the other taichou's around her for now and promote her to the position in a few years when she was ready for it. Next to her was Byakuya and Renji, then Toshiro and Rangiku. After them was Mayuri. He had no fukutaichou at the moment. On the other side of the room was Rose and Izuru, fresh on their feet again, then Shinji and Momo. Iba stood next, by himself. He could continue to be the fukutaichou. Next to him was Kensei and Shuhei, followed by Kenpachi who also had no fukutaichou. Lastly was Rukia. She was another one who Shunsui wanted to make taichou immediately, however he knew she wasn't quite ready yet. She had a bankai, yes, but it was only just achieved. He didn't want to overwhelm the young girl so quickly. He knew he had nothing to fear with her though. Byakuya would never allow his precious little sister to fail. If she struggled he would swoop in an save her.

Shunsui had hoped he was doing the right thing, rushing into making Lisa and Love taichou's again. However he knew they could do it, and the sooner they get the divisions back on their feet the better. After all, Lisa practically ran the eighth division and Love was the seventh taichou before. Not only that but their new fukutaichou's would be excellent assistants. It would also be two less things that he would have to worry about. "Enter, seventh division taichou Aikawa Love and seventh division taichou Yadomaru Lisa." he called.

xxx

Mayuri left the taichou ceremony as soon as it ended. He didn't care much for it, and now there were two more old faces among the ranks. Yet he knew the necessity behind it. Just like he knew he needed a second. Nemu may not have been perfect, but she had ran the division well as his fukutaichou. He still couldn't believe she was gone. She died, yet he still had her heart. He decided to make another Nemu, the eighth one. Yet she would not be ready to be a fukutaichou for a very long time. He needed someone he could trust.

Mayuri wasn't a very trusting person at all, but whoever the second officer he choose was had to understand how he worked. There were only a handful that did. When Kisuke had formed the Research department, it had been him, Kisuke, Hiyori, Akon, and Kuna. Kuna was still around, but she was rather annoying at times. He would also never ask Hiyori to come back. She just didn't work well with him. That only left a singe person. Akon had already been his third seat for quite some time now, and while he did have a habit of doing his own thing every now and again he was remotely trust worthy.

To his surprise, Mayuri found himself missing Nemu. He didn't understand why. She wasn't a real soul, just one he made in a test tube. Yet somehow he had developed an attachment to her. That happened around the time Ichigo's quincy friend first invaded. He knew Ichigo had indirectly or directly changed every single person in the gotie thirteen. He didn't like the fact that a mere human could do that, but at the same time it was intriguing. He wondered where all that boy and his friends would go. Putting the thought aside, he set out to find Akon to inform him of his intentions.

xxx

Kenpachi let out a heavy sigh as he returned to the eleventh division. Surprisingly he hadn't gotten lost this time. He thought to blame it on the fact that Yachiru was no longer riding on his shoulder and giving him directions. Yet the thought left a hollow feeling in him. It wasn't like she was completely gone for him. After all, she was the spirit of his zanpakuto. If he could just find a way to communicate with her, but he knew he was no good at that thing. Yet for the sake of his beloved daughter, he knew he had to learn. He entered his office to see Ikkaku and Yumichika, like they always were. Ikkaku was fast asleep on his couch, and Yumichika was organizing his stuff. Not that it mattered. Kenpachi would just tear it up again by the end of the week.

"How did the meeting go?" Yumichika asked without looking back.

"Does it matter? There's just two new faces running around." he dismissed, then he went and sat at his desk. "I don't have Yachiru around to help with the paperwork, so I guess that mean's Ikkaku is going to take that spot over. You'll be the new third seat." Kenpachi groaned out as he looked at the paperwork. Yumichika just nodded. They all knew that was coming, they just wanted to give Kenpachi the chance to voice it.

"Have you seen Ichigo yet?" Yumichika asked. Kenpachi just waved it away.

"No, I'm not in the mood to go find him." he said. Yumichika felt a twinge of worry about the man. Kenpachi always wanted to fight. They had to find a way to get him out of the slump he was in.

"Then how about you try me?" Kensei asked as he and Shuhei came into the office. Shuhei nodded politely to Yumichika, and the feathered male returned it. Kenpachi looked the ninth taichou up and down.

"Not in the mood." he groaned. Kensei scowled.

"I'm not asking. I need a challange, and your the only one that will accept it." he said. Kenpachi smirked.

"Oh really. You going to use your banaki?" he asked, and Yumichika felt a twinge of excitement, hoping the battle hungry man would take the bait. Kensei nodded. "Alright, let's go then." he said. Kensei and Kenpachi stepped out of the office, leaving Shuhei and Yumichika alone with a sleeping Ikkaku.

"You look better." Yumichika noted. Shuhei sighed.

"I suppose." he said. Yumichika sighed. This boy was depressed too.

"Those Quincy's managed to kill a few of our best people. The ones you happened to go against were able to kill our suitaichou and take down the royal guard. You shouldn't be down about loosing to them." Yumichika said.

"It's not that. Taichou already gave me the same lecture. It's..." he started, but Yumichika already knew. Sajin was gone, Kensei was almost gone, Rangiku and Izuru were both almost gone. Shuhei had been through a lot in the last two years, had lost a lot of people he cared about. It was hard just to bounce back.

"Come on, let's go watch the taichou's." Yumichika said. Shuhei nodded.

xxx

Izuru came into the fifth division with Rangiku. It was lunch time and they wanted to take Momo out. They had gone to find Shuhei and Renji too, but the two were not in their offices. Momo was handing off some papers to Shinji when they came in. "Oh, looks like your friends are here. You should get going." Shinji dismissed her as he took the papers. The black haired girl gave him a nervous look.

"Are you going to get some lunch?" she asked. He smiled and nodded.

"Yeah don't worry about me. I'm just waiting for Hiyori and Hikafune to get here. Go on." he shooed her away. Momo nodded and followed the two blondes out.

"Where are we going?" she asked them, curious. Izuru looked back to her as they walked.

"We thought about getting all the fukutaichou's together for lunch, but Abarai and Hisagi are already off somewhere. I wonder if they're training together again? Iba should still be in his office, but I think we should let him get to know his new taichou. Omaeda probably went home, and I think the others are busy, so it's just us." he said.

"Mind if I join you then?" they turned to see Toshiro, looking a little lost and out of place. Izuru and Rangiku went to answer, but Momo ran over to grab him arm and pull him over to the others.

"Of course Shiro! You're always welcome." she said. The other two tried not to chuckle at the young taichou's red face. He hated being called Shiro because it reminded him that Momo viewed him as a kid. He had started to accept that from the others, even started to make jokes about it. However she was one of the few he really wanted to view him as an equal, and not as an inferior child. Yet he learned not to push it. He had been telling her for years to stop calling him that, yet she continued to do so. It would make no difference.

"Taichou, it's great to see you away from work!" Rangiku cooed. Toshiro scowled.

"Don't get the wrong idea, I'm coming to make sure you don't get drunk while we have a lot of work to do!" he hissed. Izuru smiled. Leave it to Toshiro to try and cover up genuine concern with work related issues. If it was anyone else in the Gotie thirteen, Izuru would think it really was work related. However he knew from first hand experience that Toshiro was very serious about anything involving Momo and Rangiku. These two were very precious to him and Izuru felt bad for any poor soul stupid enough to wake that dragon.

"Awww come on, you need to relax a little." Rangiku said. Toshrio sighed, letting the matter drop.

"By the way Kira, it's good to see your doing well again." he said, shifting focus to the third officer. Izuru wanted to point out it hadn't just been him in bad shape. Toshiro and Rangiku had both been turned into zombies. Yet he felt it was better not to bring that up.

"Thank you sir." he decided to say instead.


	6. Repairing bonds

Uryu, Orihime, Sado, Hiyori, Hachi, Kisuke, and Yoruichi stood beside the senkaimon, ready to pass through. A few people had come to see them off. Ichigo, Rukia, Renji, and Soi Fon were all givens and Hikafune, Shinji, Kensei, Lisa, Love, Mashiro, and Rose had to come as well. Byakuya and Rangiku also found time to come. "You need to come back the first chance you get. Nanao want's to get the Shinigami Woman's society up and running again." Rangiku told Orihime.

"Of course, you are always welcome too Lady Yoruichi." Soi Fon said, a little shyly. Yoruichi smiled as she put a hand on her student's head.

"Don't worry, we'll be there." she said. Orihime nodded in agreement.

"Take care will you guys, and tell my boss I'm sorry I couldn't help her out any more." Ichigo said.

"You should tell her yourself, but I suppose we can manage it." Uryu said, adjusting his glasses. His smile told Ichigo it would be one of the first things taken care of.

"Call us if you ever need our help." Sado said firmly. Ichigo nodded. He doubted he'd have to, but heknew he was going to do it. After all, they were strong enough to handle anything. The group turned to look at the senkaimon. They knew this wasn't goodbye. They would see Ichigo again, and he would see him. Yet it would never be exactly the same. The next time they saw him, he wouldn't be just a teenage who is doing a little more than his share. He'd be a full fledged Shinigami. Yet they knew it was the same for all of them. No one was the same as they were when the entire mess began two years ago. For all instances and purposes, it was for the best.

"Well then, take care! We're going now." Kisuke called. Ichigo and Rukia both nodded and smiled as the group turned and ran into the senkaimon.

xxx

The sky opened up long enough for the seven bodies to emerge before closing in behind them. To say they were surprised at having a receiving party was an understatement. Ururu, Tessai, Jinta, Ryuken, Isshin, Karin, Yuzu, Tatsuki, Keigo, and Mizuiro were all waiting for them. Orihime smiled as she ran over to hug her long time friend, and Tatsuki hugged her back. Uryu and Ryuken stood staring at each other while Keigo ran over to hug Sado, Mizuiro smiling a hello to him. Ururu went up to Kisuke, and he put a hand on her head. Yuzu meanwhile started looking around.

"Where's Ichigo?" she asked. Sado and Orihime looked at Uryu, and he looked at Kisuke. If anyone should tell them out of there group, it was the man who trained Ichigo and had the longest running relationship with the adults there. Kisuke pulled out his white fan.

"Well you see Yuzu dear...he's not coming back." Kisuke said in a happy go lucky voice.

"What?!" Yuzu asked in surprise. She did not look happy at all. Karin however looked rather board.

"I didn't think he would." she said. Tatsuki and Mizuiro both nodded in agreement. They both had a feeling that Ichigo would stay in the Seiretei. They wouldn't have met Shunsui if there was any other outcome.

"Anyway it's getting late and we have school tomorrow. Come on Orihime, you can have dinner at my place." Tatsuki said. Orihime nodded and followed the dark haired girl.

"I suppose that's our cue to go as well. Chad, you're welcome to come join us for dinner too if you want." Kisuke offered as he, Tessai, Yoruichi, Jinta, and Ururu headed out. Sado thought about it, but the after thought of how the shopkeeper would make him repay it made him stop.

"You can come have dinner with us if you want." Karin offered. She liked Sado. He was nice and he was Ichigo's friend. He was really quiet though. Sado nodded and he followed her, Yuzu, and Karin.

"I guess my sister is going to kill me if I don't get home soon. Come on Mizuiro." Keigo said. Mizuiro gave a nervous nod as he looked at the only two left. The Ishida's had so much tension between then that the dark haired boy felt it was a bad idea to leave them alone together. However they had some things to work out, he could tell. In fact, he was sure that's part of the reason everyone was quick to leave. The two boys quickly retreated down the road.

Ryuken and Uryu looked away from each other. Finally after a few minutes of silence, Uryu decided he couldn't take it anymore. "Thank you. If it hadn't been for that arrow..." Uryu started.

"Don't bring it up again." Ryuken said. Uryu fell silent. He wasn't even offended. His father had done a prolonged autopsy on his mother to get that arrow head. Yet he knew his mother would be happy that even in death she had been able to help save her husband and son. If she was here now, she'd be so disappointed in the two of them. Uryu sighed and Ryuken pulled out a cigarette.

"I have some food at my place. It's not the best but..." Uryu trailed off. He wasn't sure why he was doing this, but his father did just save them. Ryuken looked at his watch.

"It's too late to be cooking Uryu. You have school in the morning." he refused the invitation with no hesitation. Uryu wanted to scream at him. At least he was trying! Ryuken then took a long drag on his cigarette. "There aren't a lot of places left open this late at night, but we could probably find one nearby." he said, surprising the boy. Uryu dumbly nodded, and Ryuken started to walk away. Uryu quietly followed.

Ryuken glanced back at his son. He wondered what Misaki and Katagiri would think of the boys if they had lived. Surly Misaki would have spoiled both boys rotten. Katagiri would have spent a lot of time teaching them sewing and cooking. Yet both women would be very proud of them. Katagiri would be especially proud of her son. Ryuken couldn't see much of himself in Uryu, but he could see too much of Katagiri. The self sacrificing nature for others, the desire to protect those closest to him. The want to make them happy, even if it's something so little as helping sew their toys back together. He was glad Uryu took after Katagiri.

"Uryu." he called, getting the boy's attention. He wondered if he should say it. After all, Isshin was right in how close of a call this had been. He knew this was most likely the last time someone of Aizen or Yhwach's caliber would appear in their lifetimes at the very least. Yet he felt now would be the best of all times to ever say it. "I'm glad you made it back. You did well." he said, then he turned away to keep walking. He had no desire to see whatever look would come across Uryu's face.

Uryu felt the entire world freeze. His father just said he was glad he was alive, and he complimented him! Uryu couldn't ever remember that happening before. He felt a small smile tug at his lips and was sure his eyes got a little misty. "Thanks...Father." he said. He wasn't ready to call Ryuken 'dad' yet, but the least he owed the man was the respect of calling him his father.

 **So yeah, that's the first part. The immediate aftermath of this shit. The next chapter will take place a little bit later, still within the same year. I have no idea how to thank you all for the support. So many people are reading this and it makes me so happy! The reviews are amazing too. I know this chapter is shorter than the others, but this was all I ever wrote for the immediate end, so I thought it was a good place to cut off.**


	7. Connections

Ochi Misato looked over her students. Since before summer brake things went nuts. A few weeks before summer brake at the beginning of June, some of her students all of a sudden stopped coming to class. Kurosaki Ichigo, Inoue Orihime, Ishida Uryu, and Yasutora Sado. At the end of June three of them returned. Now it was October and Ichigo had since been dis-enrolled from the school. It was also important to notice the student's behavior as well. When they first returned it was a stunning shock to her how the students acted. Orihime seemed depressed. Her and Tatsuki were still together, but hardly ever talked anymore. Mizurio and Keigo stopped talking to each other all the time, and Sado and Uryu both seemed to retreat into themselves.

Now this wasn't the first time Misato lost students. Chizuru's parents had gotten transferred last year and the initial reception was not well from the other students. She knew Orihime and Tatsuki especially had missed Chizuru a lot. Then Ryo accepted a scholarship to study abroad for her senior year on the request that she participate in track. Mahana and Michiru both got transferred to other classes as well. That left the group of friends down to Ichigo, Orihime, Uryu, Sado, Tatsuki, Mizuiro, Keigo, and Rukia. Yet Rukia and Ichigo were gone. Misato knew the one who gathered such a ragtag group of friends had been Ichigo. At first she had been very considered about the effect this would have on them. Then about a month ago things changed.

It was the first of September, when they got back from their summer brake. Orihime had come into class looking the happiest Misato could remember seeing her in a long time. She had announced she made lunch for them all and required that they join her. Misato was so glad to see all the students immediately accepted her request. Ever since then, they had all been spending time together again. She saw them all eating lunch together; Mizuiro and Keigo walked home from school again; she heard Sado making plans to meet them out of school; Uryu and Orihime were disusing going to a sewing shop. It was like they got the reminder that even if Ichigo isn't constantly there, their friendship with him and each other wasn't over because of that.

She still didn't understand why they missed a month of school, but in just as much time, Uryu had reclaimed his number one seat, and Orihime and Sado were near the top once again. They had recovered with a dedication that Misato rarely ever seen. She was glad though. They all seemed to be doing well, they were still the best of friends, and she could see how much they had grown since they entered her class for high school.

xxx

Tatsuki frowned as she watched Orihime leave the classroom to go home. She knew they all had jobs to go to. Orihime managed to keep her job at the bakery. Tatsuki herself was an assistant teacher at the Furin Dojo. Uryu had started working at the Urahara Shop again and protecting the town. Sado worked at a pet shop. Mizurio got an internship, and Keigo worked at a shop. Yet Tatsuki knew for a fact the young girl didn't work today. Orihime still claimed that she did and left. Tatsuki knew from using this trick herself on others in the past that Orihime just needed some space. She needed some time to herself. Tatsuki also knew why. Orihime was moving on and accepting the fact that her and Ichigo would never be. She knew Orihime wanted to try and get past this before they go to visit Ichigo and Rukia in the Soul Society.

The group had made the decision that they would use the tickets that Shunsui gave them during winter brake. It was a little over two months from then, but it would give them a little room to focus on school. Orihime, Uryu, and Sado would be their guides of course, and Ichigo's sisters also said they were going. However oddly enough Ichigo's father said he couldn't make it and to give Ichigo his regards. Tatsuki thought it was a little odd.

She decided to let it go for now, hoping that it work itself out without her intervention.

xxx

Ichigo sat at his new desk, frowning at the level of work he had to do. He made his decision and did not regret it. When he announced that he was joining the Gotie Thirteen, the divisions offered him different positions. He had a range of options from a fukutaichou to seated officer positions. He never got an offer to be a taichou and wasn't offended that he didn't. He knew that a taichou needed a level of experience and knowledge. That was part of the reason Shuhei, Izuru, Momo, Rukia, and Isane were only acting taichou's.

In all honesty, Ichigo had expected Renji, Ikkaku, or Shuhei to be offered a taichou position. All three had leadership experience and a bankai. Yet all three had the same reason why they couldn't become a taichou. For Renji it was Byakuya. For Ikkaku it was Kenpachi. For Shuhei it was Kensei. They each had a man that they wanted to follow. They joined the division's that they did for that man. There was no way they were going to leave that division now. They wanted to serve the taichou they had, not lead another division themselves.

Ichigo didn't take very long to select what position he would take. He took the fourth seat of the thirteenth division. He had made the decision to stand beside Rukia and guide her through the hard times ahead. He also didn't want to displace Sentaro and Kiyone. The third seat was their position. Rukia had more than just Ichigo to help her. Her brother Byakuya regularly came to give her guidance and check on her work. Also Love came by to help. At first Ichigo had been surprised that Love took an interest in the division, but Sentaro later explained that his father was Love's former fukutaichou. So he was looking out for the thirteenth division as a favor to his old fukutaichou and Sentaro's father. Ichigo couldn't help but feel like it was a sweet thing to do. He had wanted to go back to Karakura town and check on the others, but decided to wait for now. He knew they must be working hard in school, especially since they had so much time to make up. It also wasn't like he didn't have enough work to do here.

A knock came at the door and Ichigo looked up to see Rukia and Renji standing there. "Hey." he greeted with a smile. Renji smirked.

"A bunch of us Fukutaichou's are going out to lunch, so let's go." he said. Ichigo gave the red head a look like he was an idiot.

"I'm not a fukutaichou Renji." he said. Renji rolled his eyes. He sometimes felt that Ichigo did the nitpicking stuff solely to get under his nerves.

"You're on good enough grounds with everyone to be considered one. Let's go alright!" he said. Ichigo smirked as he stood up.

"Who's all going?" he asked. Renji looked up a little, as if he was trying to remember.

"Well there's Rangiku and Shuhei, Izuru, I think Marechiyo is coming...Isane for sure, Momo and Iba said they'll try to come too. It's enough." Renji said. Rukia rolled her eyes.

"Ikkaku and Yumichika are going as well." she said. Renji nodded, having almost forgotten them. Ichigo reached the two and they headed out.

"So how is it? Everything you thought it'd be?" Renji asked, but the tone told Ichigo he was being mocked. Ichigo scowled.

"Shut up Renji." he growled. Renji pretended to look offended.

"Hey hey now, I'm your superior remember. Your just a fourth seat." he taunted. Ichigo scowled.

"For now, but one day I'll out rank you!" Ichigo threatened. Renji smirked.

"Really?" he asked. Rukia pushed them both away from each other and settled herself between them. This childish bickering was getting on her nerves. Ichigo however was smiling, glad some things just never changed.

xxx

Sado left the school, ready to go to the pet shop and get to work. He glanced up at the sky, noting how cloudy it was. It looked like it would rain any second. "Hey Chad!" he heard and turned to see Mizuiro and Keigo waiting for him.

"Oh, hi." he greeted. Mizuiro gave him a smile and friendly wave while Keigo burst into tears.

"What kind of greeting is that?! Especially after we waited here for you to walk with you to work!" he sobbed. Sado sighed. He liked these two, but sometimes he couldn't handle them. Mizuiro put his cell phone in his back pocket.

"Ishida was thinking of getting us all together to study for the exam next week." Mizuiro said offhandedly.

"He did did he? That sounds like him." Sado said with a soft smile. Ever since they got back, he could see how guilty Uryu felt. Yet the boy was trying to make up for it by doing what he could to help the others. Sado knew he would be going to that study session, as would Keigo and Mizuiro. Keigo would complain about it, sure, but they all knew it wasn't just to study. It was an excuse to spend a little more time together and after everything that they had been through in the last few years, they needed it.

"So how is it working at the pet shop?" asked Keigo, seemingly calmed down from his disappointment at the non enthusiastic greeting. Sado thought about it for a second.

"Good." he said. That seemed to be the best way to sum it up. The animals were cute and gentle and Sado enjoyed spending time around them. He knew this job wouldn't be permanent. It was for his senior year while he was still trying to figure out what he wanted to do. He only fought to protect others, and Ichigo became the excuse to use his fists. Now Ichigo had moved on to his future, and Sado was intending on following suit. He wanted to continue protecting others just like Ichigo. He had a few careers that he was looking at. Police officer, firefighter, and quite a few others.

"Just good?" Keigo whined, the disappointment back. Sado just nodded. Mizuiro chuckled.

"Well my internship is going well too." he decided to say, and began telling the two about what he had been up to.

xxx

Orihime walked down the street, thinking about the rain that was coming. She hadn't even looked at the weather this morning, so she forgot to bring an umbrella. Now she was going to get soaked on her way to work. The first few drops started to come down and she smiled. There was something about the rain that Orihime loved. Yet Ichigo and Rukia both hated the rain. The rain started to pick up speed, but then it suddenly stopped hitting her. She looked up to see a black umbrella over her head. She followed the umbrella to the owner to see Uryu standing in the rain, holding his umbrella so that it covered her.

"Inoue, where is your umbrella?" he asked. She smiled as she lightly tapped her own head.

"I was in such a hurry this morning that I forgot it in my apartment." she said in a sing-song voice. Uryu had a small smile on his face.

"Well I'll walk you to the bakery." he said. She smiled and nodded, moving to stand right beside him so that they were both under the umbrella. Uryu turned slightly pink.

"Come to think of it Ishida, why are you here? You live the other way, and the Urahara shop is south of the school." she said. Realistically, there wasn't a reason for Uryu to be going this way. He turned red.

"I had the day off so I was going to go to the Sunflower Sewing shop." he said. She nodded. She liked that store too. It had a lot of really good things for craft projects. The two walked for a while in silence, enjoying the sound of the rain as it hit the pavement and the umbrella. Orihime wanted to talk to him, but she didn't really know what to say. He still looked like he hadn't forgiven himself.

"When Rukia left to go to the Seiretei, she thought she was going to die. She was going back to be executed, just to protect us." Orihime said suddenly. Uryu gave her a confused look, as if he had no idea where she was going with that. "We were all so worried so we went after her. She had made a choice that she knew that would end with her death. We went and brought her back because we cared about her. Then the arrancars came to take me." she said. Uryu looked like he wanted to speak, like he just realized where Orihime was going with this, but she kept going. "I made the decision to go of my own free will. I didn't know if I would be killed or not, but I knew if I didn't go the others would die. So I went. Then you all came for me. Sado joined the Xcution group to help Ichigo. They ended up being our enemy and we still have him, but he still felt guilty about it." she said.

"Inoue..." Uryu started.

"We all made those decisions to protect the others. There was nothing wrong with your decision. No one is mad at you but yourself. It's time to let it go Uryu." Orihime said. She expected Uryu to say something about her using his first name, but he just looked at the ground, as if he was in deep thought.

"I suppose your right." he said. She knew it wasn't that easy, that he was still at war with himself, but it was a start. She smiled back at him, knowing exactly how he felt. Uryu could try to deceive himself, to say it was different, but it wasn't any different then when the rest of them followed the enemy to protect their friends. They arrived at the bakery and she smiled.

"Thank you for walking me here Uryu." she said, surprising herself that she was still using his first name. Yet she didn't want to change it. He smiled back.

"You can keep my umbrella if you want." he said. However she shook her head.

"I don't need it." she said, because she wanted to be out in the rain next time. She wanted to feel that connection, the one that still connected her to all of her friends, her brother Sora, and everyone else in the world. This rain, it bonded their lives together.

 **So in all honesty I meant this chapter to be the beginning of something between Orihime and Uryu, however I felt like Uryu would still feel so guilty over attacking his friends when he had to that I wanted to do something where they are reminding him that they are still his friends no matter what. So the next chapter I'm going to be taking the others to the Soul Society.**


	8. Arrival for a visit

"Stay together." Yoruichi ordered the group as she ran into the senkaimon. Kisuke and Tessai together would hold it long enough for their passage, and the tickets they carried guaranteed that they wouldn't be forced out of the dangai, but the group was so excited that they were ready to run off on their own. She almost had to laugh. It had been many years since she had led so many people at once into the dangai. They were just a group of excited kids on a field trip after all. Behind her was Uryu, the fastest in the group aside from her. She made that call figuring if something did go against their plans he could assist her. Behind him was Yuzu and Karin, then Orihime and Tatsuki. A few steps behind the girls was Keigo and Mizuiro, and Sado brought up the rear. That was another decision Yoruichi made. It was best to have Sado in the back where he can keep the stragglers moving.

"Are you going to Kukaku's first?" Orihime asked excitedly. She liked Kukaku and it would be rude to go and not visit someone who they owed a lot. Most of the others looked confused, but Uryu and Sado both looked like they really did not want to. Yoruichi smiled.

"We are expected there for dinner tonight. For now we should just go straight to the new soutaichou." she said over her shoulder. Before they had left, Kisuke gave the others in the group a small lesson of who is who, what the Seireitei is composed of, and a quick history of what was going on. They were really only interested in seeing Ichigo though. At least the group that didn't know who the shinigami were. Orihime was chattering away about how she couldn't wait to introduce Tatsuki to the other women shinigami, and even Sado and Uryu had a few others they had grown fond of.

"So is that bald guy and the feathered one going to be there?" Keigo asked.

"Madarame and Ayasegawa? Yes. It I remember correctly they have been promoted. Madarame is now a fukutaichou and Ayasegawa a third seat." Uryu said. Keigo turned pale. He remembered the two of them well from them crashing at his place two years ago. Yoruichi just turned her focus back to running. She looked down at the papers in her hand and sighed.

She hadn't been surprised that Isshin wasn't coming. When he came to bring the girls, he made a big show of saying that he couldn't make it due to an emergency and would have to take a rain check. Yoruichi, Kisuke, Uryu, Orihime, Sado, and Tessai were not fooled. They knew Isshin couldn't go back to the Seiretei without publicly announcing that he deserted them. He had slipped Yoruichi three letters though. The first was meant for his son, the most obvious ones. Probably just a 'hey how you doing?' type of letter. The second was for his niece and nephew, Kukaku and Ganju. Probably just to tell them sorry for all the trouble they caused them. Either that or yell at them for sending Ichigo to the Soul King's home. Maybe both if she had to be honest. The last one was to his former subordinates Toshiro and Rangiku. It most likely told the two what they already knew. That he was alive and sorry for leaving them with no notice.

"Yoruichi, we're almost there." Uryu's voice brought her back to reality. She nodded her thanks and continued to run.

xxx

The group crashed into the Seiretei. Yoruichi, Uryu, Orihime, and Sado were the only ones who stayed on their feet. The rest had to get up from the pile they found themselves in. Yoruichi chuckled. The new arrivals looked around in amazement. Uryu, Orihime, and Sado out of how impressed they were with the amount of rebuilding that occurred since they left. The others with how awe inspiring the place looked. Even with most of it in ruins, the white tower next to Sokyoku Hill towered over them, showing the strength of the Soul Society as a whole.

Yoruichi had come to inform them of their arrival, so she had a better idea of the state things were in. The divisions were completely rebuilt and running again. The noble's homes were also fully restored. Many other public buildings however were in the process of being rebuilt. Roads were still destroyed but no one used them enough to make them a main priority. "We should go now." Yoruichi said. The sooner they informed Shunsui of their arrival, the sooner they could be released to go have fun.

xxx

"Whoa! This place is incredible!" Keigo gasped as they stood outside the Soutaichou's office. Yoruichi smirked and knocked at the door.

"Come in." Shunsui called, sounding really excited. Yoruichi wondered if he could sense who was outside the door and was happy to see them, or if he hadn't even checked but was just welcoming a distraction from work. She opened the door to see he was already standing away from his desk. She shook her head.

"That's not a proper example to set for the younger officers." she playfully scolded. Shunsui sighed, but it wasn't annoyed or tired, more like he was about to play along with her.

"You should have more respect for the pace of this old man." he said. She smiled and nodded.

"I'll keep that in mind. Anyway, we're here for a week vacation to visit Ichigo and the others." she said. He nodded. Shunsui knew Old Man Yamamoto would never just approve of something like this, but he wasn't the old man. He needed to do what was best for his men, and right now seeing Orihime, Uryu, Sado, and Yoruichi would improve their moral by a load. The three didn't know it, but the Shinigami loved them just as much as they loved Ichgio. Even the Quincy. They risked so much and went so far against enemies that they never should have had to face. To the entirety of the Soul Society, they were just as much of heroes as Ichigo.

"Have fun, just don't keep my people away from work too much." he said with a smile. Yoruichi smiled sweetly that Shunsui knew that promise would be broken as soon as they left the room.

"Where is Ichigo?" she asked. Shunsui thought for a second.

"Since he is part of the thirteenth division he should be around there somewhere. I would say wherever Rukia is." he mused. Orihime looked a little at the ground. Yoruichi nodded and turned to the others.

"You heard him." she said. The others nodded and headed out, Uryu and Orihime leading the way. Meanwhile Yoruichi stayed behind.

"Not going with them?" Shunsui asked. She shook her head.

"No, I have letters to deliver and then I'm going to check in on Soi Fon." she said. Shunsui nodded.

"You can tell Isshin that he can come back to see his son. The Central Forty-six that knew him is gone. He shouldn't let some empty threat keep him from visiting his son and his former subordinates." Shunsui said. Yoruichi nodded and left.

xxx

Ichigo moved the last stack of papers into the 'done' pile when a knock came at his door. Lamenting the idea of more work being heaped on him, he went to the door. When he opened it however he was stunned. "Y...you guys!?" he gasped. He hand't been expecting them, although in hindsight he knew he probably should have. He hadn't seen them since he remained in the Soul Society and he knew if he had been paying attention he would know it was winter brake.

"Good to see you're still in one piece." Uryu remarked.

"ICHIGO!" Keigo and Yuzu yelled as both of them leaped onto the orange haired male in a hug. Ichigo stepped back a bit to keep from falling on the ground. Mizuiro, Tatsuki, Karin, Sado, Orihime, and Uryu all just smiled. Uryu then glanced over at Orihime before turning back to Ichigo.

"Well, I guess I'll be going then." the raven said, turning to leave.

"WAIT! You're leaving!? You just got here!" Ichigo yelled in protest. The Quincy paused to face him.

"You have your sisters here, you should catch up with them first. We're here for a week, so we have plenty of time to see you. We'll even all have dinner at Shiba's tonight." Uryu offered. Ichigo then nodded, seeing the sound logic in that. Orihime then turned to leave too.

"We'll see you at Kukaku's then!" she called, running after Uryu. Sado turned and left as well. After all, the three of them were the last ones to see Ichigo. They wanted to give the others a chance.

"Hey, wait up!" Tatsuki decided, and ran after Orihime. She could see the point in leaving Ichigo some time to see his sisters, and she wanted to meet Orihime's other friends too. Ichigo sighed as he watched them leave, then moved aside so his sisters, Keigo, and Mizuiro could better enter his office.

xxx

Orihime and Tatsuki entered the tenth division. "So, who is here?" Tatsuki asked, curious. Orihime smiled.

"Well this is where Hitsugaya Toshiro and Matsumoto Rangiku are. When they came to Karakura town they both stayed at my place, so I wanted to come say hi." Orihime said. Tatsuki nodded and followed her to the main office door. Orihime knocked at the door then waited. Rangiku was the one who opened it.

"Orihime!" she squealed in greeting, hugging the younger girl. She then looked over at Tatsuki. She knew the girl looked familiar from her time at the High School, but she never officially met her. "And who is this?" she asked. Tatsuki smiled.

"Arisawa Tatsuki. I am a long time friend of Ichigo and Orihime's." Tatsuki introduced herself. Rangiku smiled.

"It's nice to meet you, come on in, taichou is still here." Rangiku said, pulling open the door. They could see Toshiro sitting behind his desk.

"He's a taichou? But he looks like a little kid." Tatsuki whispered. Toshiro looked up, having heard the comment, but then just turned back to his paperwork. Honestly, he didn't care too much for the comments anymore. Not since he found that he could grow up into an adult when he used his bankai. Truthfully he liked his real self much better, so the comments didn't have so much of a bite to them anymore. He even made jokes himself once in a while.

"Hello Inoue-san, I see you're looking well." he said without looking aback up. Orihime smiled.

"We came to see Ichigo, but we thought he would like to spend some time with his sisters." She explained. Rangiku clapped as if an idea had just come to her.

"If that's the case, then let's go see the other females. We can have an emergency meeting." Rangiku decided. She grabbed Orihime and Tatsuki's arms.

"Matsumoto, don't even think ab...MATSUMOTO!" they could hear Toshiro shout as Rangiku shunpoed out of the room, dragging the girls with her.

xxx

Sado and Uryu arrived at the sixth division main office. Uryu knocked and they immediately received the formal 'enter' from Byakuya. They opened the door and went in. "Chad! Ishida! What brings you guys here?!" Renji called from his desk, looking happy and excited. Uryu shrugged.

"We came to see Kurosaki, but I figured he wanted to see his sisters. So we came to see you." he said. Renji didn't look dismayed at all that he was their second choice. In fact he looked thrilled.

"That's great, so how long are you all here?" he asked. Byakuya scowled however.

"Renji, the office is no place to be hanging out with your friends. Why don't you take the rest of the day and go somewhere else." the taichou said. Uryu and Sado looked surprised, but Renji looked overly excited.

"Yes Taichou, come on!" he said, and led the two teens away.


	9. Friends

Kukaku Shiba stood reading over the letter that her uncle sent her. She had expected him to be angry for sending Ichigo to the Royal guard, or acting like a goof like he always was. However she was surprised to see his letter was neither of that. It was a serious attempt from him to check on her and Ganju's health. It was nice and made her smile. She missed the old times though. When Kaien was still alive and had his new wife Miyako around. Isshin would come over regularly to check on them, joking about his fukutaichou being angry about work getting pushed onto her and how his third seat was being well groomed into succeeding him if he retired. Back then their family had not fallen. They were still in the Seiretei and living in peace next to other noble houses. When they were kids she hadn't spent a lot of time with the other nobles, just Yoruichi.

She could still remember that day that Yoruichi told her about meeting two young men. Apparently they were from the west rukongai and seemed like really interesting boys. Kukaku had helped her pick out the location that the three of them could sneak off to to play. The boys had a knack for sneaking into the seiretei unnoticed as Kukaku soon learned. Then she herself got to meet them. Kisuke and Tessai. Kukaku wasn't as close to trio since she couldn't come with them, but she still saw the three of them as her most precious friends.

She never was mad at her Uncle for the fall of their family. There was no need to be. He did what he thought was right and that was all there was to it. Ganju had adjusted quickly to being in the rukongai, making friends with the nearby villages and starting his own little gang with the boar that Kaien found. Kukaku had made the decision to stay in the west rukongai. Ganju had known why, it was in case Yoruichi and the others ever returned, but never once did he object to it. It was true their home was never as full as it used to be, but it certainly was full now.

Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko were setting up the dinning table. Ganju, Kenji Yamashita, Mitsuru Ishino, Sadatomo Saionji, and Taichi Miyamoto were discussing their last outing. Kugo Ginjo, Giriko Kutsuzawa, and Shukuro Tsukishima sat off to the side. She could tell they felt they shouldn't be there. After all, company was coming. She heard voices coming toward the room. Correction, company was already there. Koganehiko and Shirganehiko immediately left to go greet them. The doors opened again and the retainers brought in Ichigo, Karin, Yuzu, Orihime, Uryu, Sado, Tatsuki, Keigo, Mizurio, Rukia, Renji, Hanataro, Yoruichi, and SoiFon. Kukaku smiled as she lit a pipe.

"What are you all still doing here?" Ichigo gaped as he noticed the Fullbringers. Kugo smirked, as if he was highly amused. Kukaku took a long drag from her pipe.

"Because it's my house. Do you have a problem with that?" she asked. The males felt a shiver of fear go through their bodies.

"No ma'am." Ichigo immediately said. Kukaku nodded and looked over the other kids. She easily located Yuzu and Karin. So these were her other cousins? Karin was obliviously from the Shiba side. Like Ichigo, she took mostly after Isshin. However the other girl looked like she must have taken after her mother. The combination of Quincy and Shinigami still amazed the fireworks expert.

"I'm Kukaku Shiba, this is my home. It's nice to meet you, let's eat." She decided. She had been looking forward to this for some time.

xxx

Dinner was livelier that it had been since the last time Ichigo and the others had showed up. Ichigo and Rukia were arguing again, and of course Renji had to get in the middle of it. Hanataro and Ganju were catching up on everything that happened since the last time they had talked, that was until Rukia came over and took the healer away. She hadn't talked to him in a while either and was done with Ichigo and Renji's bickering. Orihime was telling her friend Tatsuki all about their friendship with Kukaku and the adventures that they had. The girls were listening in and all looked a little nervous at the part where Kukaku shot them into the sky. Keigo tried to hit on Kukaku, which ended up with him getting a foot to the face. Uryu and Ganju started to talk for a bit, then they talked to Sado and Renji. Overall, Kukaku thought it was a wonderful evening. They were all getting caught up and having fun.

After dinner they decided to crash at her place. She didn't mind. Ichigo was sleeping in a corner, both of his sisters against his sides. Rukia was nearby, and Tatsuki and Orihime were near her. Sado was with Keigo and Mizuiro and Uryu slept on the other side of the room, partially propped up on the wall like he was watching over the others. Renji was next to him. Ganju and Hanataro crashed near them. Ganju's gang were all over the place and Yoruichi was sitting up on the wall with SoiFon next to her. The fullbringers had gone to the guest room, not surprising her in the least.

Kukaku went outside, wanting to get a little air. It was true that she wished Kaien and the others could be here, but things were also nice like this too. They had a large family and it would just keep growing at this rate. She re-lit her pipe as she looked at the stars. She'd have to make a big fireworks display on the day they leave.

xxx

Sounds of battle rang out through the training complex, but that was nothing new. The eleventh division was always having a training match going on. Kenpachi and Ichigo were sparing in the center of the huge arena. Karin and Yuzu sat watching them. Karin didn't look all that interested though. When they first got to the eleventh division, they had come as the entire group. Keigo expressed an immediate desire to leave when he saw both Ikkaku and Yumichika, who expressed a sort of enjoyment out of seeing him again, or rather seeing how afraid of them her was. After the taichou had challenged Ichigo and he accepted, the others left in small groups, not saying where they were going. Now it was just the two sisters watching the spars. Karin stood up and stretched.

"Well, I'm leaving." she decided. Yuzu gave her a stunned look.

"What do you mean Karin?!" she gasped. Karin glanced over at the men fighting.

"I want to go see what else is around here. Ichigo's busy so it's fine." she said. Yuzu looked like she was going to protest again, but Karin just walked away.

xxx

Sado sat across from Shuhei as the tattooed male played the next song he learned. Sado nodded in approval. Two years ago he began teaching Shuhei how to play the guitar during their first rest brake in the Seiretei. Ever since them Shuhei had been improving at an amazing speed. He hardly even needed Sado around anymore. Shuhei sighed softly as he played a song that he had taught himself.

"It's a rather sad song." Sado noted out loud. Shuhei paused.

"I suppose it is." he confirmed. That was all the further the conversation would go, and they both knew it. Shuhei wasn't one to offer up information about himself, and Sado wasn't one to invade others privacy. It was part of the reason why the two got along so well. Shuhei went back to playing and Sado listened closely to pick up any wrong notes or cords.

Kensei stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame. Neither male had noticed him, and he would rather it that way. He liked to listen to Shuhei play guitar. It wasn't like listening to Rose. Rose had took it upon himself to work with Shuhei on the guitar as well, but Rose always like the more dramatic and loud songs. Shuhei was more into soft ballads. Another thing that contrasted with the boy's punk appearance Kensei supposed. Overall he was just happy that Shuhei was reaching out to others and not staying confined in his usual friend group. the taichou smiled and turned to leave, deciding it was time to get back to work.

xxx

Keigo looked around nervously. He hated that Mizuiro agreed to joining Ikkaku and Yumichika for lunch. The two men were beyond his understanding. Ikkaku was so physically strong that it scared him shitless. However his fear of Yumichika was much different. When he met them Yumichika had been willing to stand there and watch his friend die. The only sign of concern that he showed was making preparations for a funeral. He knew Yumichika must have cared greatly about Ikkaku, and to see someone like that do nothing was what Keigo couldn't understand. He didn't value his pride like they did. "Why didn't you bring Ishida? Weren't you both talking about designing an outfit or something?" Mizuiro asked Yumichika. The male nodded in agreement.

"Yes we were, but he had friends that he wants to go see too. We set some times aside in the next week to work on it." he said. Mizuiro nodded in understanding. There was a lot of people in the Gotie thirteen and Ichigo, Uryu, Orihime, and Sado had regularly interacted with them for some time now. Of course there was more than just Ichigo here that they would want to see. Keigo meanwhile looked from Ikkaku to Yumichika.

"How is your lovely sister by the way?" Yumichika asked Keigo. That made both Keigo and Ikkaku uncomfortable.

"She's fine." he said quickly. Then he remembered that Ikkaku and Yumichika had not come alone to their school when they met. "So what about Matsumoto?" he asked. Yumichika shrugged.

"She's fine I suppose. Haven't had much time to talk to her." he said.

"She's still annoying Hitsugaya." Ikkaku said indifferently. He saw her regularly at the fukutaichou meetings and when they all went out drinking together. Ikkaku usually liked to avoid the nights when Rangiku went though, he didn't want to get stuck with her bill. Most of the time she was able to shove it off on Shuhei. No wonder the poor guy was broke before pay day.

"So who all is going to lunch?" Mizuiro asked, wanting to meet them all. Yumichika shrugged.

"Not sure. Iba might come. We usually have lunch with him and Renji from time to time. We were all in the same division together once after all. I wonder how he is doing with his new taichou." Yumichika mused out loud.

xxx

Orihime, Rukia, Tatsuki, Yoruichi, and SoiFon arrived at the Shinigami woman's association. Nanao Ise stood as the president of the club. Momo, Isane, Kiyone, Lisa, Mashiro, and Rangiku were all in the room already. "We decided to have a lunch here." Nanao said sadly, then she turned to Rukia. "We promise this is the last time we will do this." she said. Rukia knew what she was talking about. They were in the 'secret' club room that Yachiru had picked out in the Kuchiki compound. Byakuya never really liked that they held their meetings in his home, but he never argued too much. They wanted to have one finale meeting and lunch in the old location, the one they shared with Yachiru, Unohana, and Nemu before they picked a new location. Rukia nodded with a smile. Tatsuki was looking around with interest.

"You much be Orihime's friend Tatsuki. We heard a lot about you from Orihime." Momo said. Tatsuki didn't seem to surprised. After all she had heard a lot about these women from Orihime, and she had even seen Rangiku before.

"Hey, Yoruichi, why didn't Hiyori come with you?" Mashiro asked. Lisa looked over, clearly wondering the same thing. The visored would have loved to see her and Hachigen. Yoruichi shrugged.

"I honestly don't know. I suppose they were busy helping Kisuke with the shop." she said. They didn't look like they liked the answer but nodded. Nanao then smiled. Things had been so difficult with everyone working on the repairs that they hadn't had a chance to have a meeting since all the Quincy mess started. Now they had a little bit of leisure time, and she was intent on using it to it's fullest so they could all get something out of it. Of course Rangiku and Mashiro never did a lot of work in the first place.

xxx

Uryu and Renji were sitting at a lunch table with Izuru, and Sentaro. "So how are things going in your divisions since the Qu..." Sentaro started, but froze. He didn't want to accidentally offend Uryu and hadn't been thinking when he asked. Izuru and Renji gave him stern looks, as if telling him he messed up, but Uryu looked at them with interest.

"How are the divisions recovering?" he asked. Renji frowned.

"Ishida, you're not..." he started.

"I'm not asking out of guilt Abarai, I just want to see how you are doing." Uryu almost snapped. He still did feel guilty, but they didn't need to know that.

"The division's numbers are getting replaced. They should be filled again in a few months. It'll take a few years to get all the structures fully rebuilt and the men trained, but it's well on its way to recovery." Izuru said. Uryu nodded, then gave them a soft smile, glad they were doing well.

"And how are you recovering?" Izuru asked. That question caught him off guard.

"Huh?" the male asked.

"Well, you're a kid who went through two huge wars in less than three years. It can be very damaging." Izuru said. Uryu was about to object to that when he remembered that they were all over a hundred years old and he wasn't even at the two decade mark.

"I'm fine." he said stiffly. It was amazing. He helped their enemy and they were worried about him. Renji scoffed.

"Sure, whatever. Let's just have a drink." he said, the other two males cheered, all drowning out Uryu's protest that he was under age.

 **Friendships that there could be between the humans and the Shinigami. It was expressed in the data books that Sado had taught Shuhei a little of how to play guitar, and Yumichika and Uryu I think would get along over making clothes. I just like to explore different friendships that either have been hinted at or I think would work. Hope you don't mind.**


	10. I wonder

Ikumi looked at the door of the Kurosaki Clinic. She looked down at the plaque in her hand, the one Ichigo had left at her home. She knew she should have returned it months ago, but she had always hoped that Ichigo would just waltz into the store again to return to work. Yet he never did. She knocked at the door and waited. She expected either Ichigo to pull open the door and begin yelling at her for coming to his house. Either that or the brown haired girl who answered the door for her before, who would smile and offer to make her tea as she called for the orange haired idiot. However it was neither of them that opened the door, but instead a man who she had only seen a few times before.

"Oh, you're Ichigo's old boss!" the man noted. Ikumi nodded, holding out the pendent.

"You're son left this at my place." she explained, holding it out. The man actually looked afraid of the piece of wood. He didn't reach out for it but just stared at it nervously, as if the object would suck out his soul if he touched it. It was very confusing to her. Suddenly it was removed from her hand and she looked beside her to see a new man she had never before seen. He had white hair and piercing brown eyes with oval glasses.

"Oh, hey Ryuken, what brings you here?" Isshin said with a smile, as if nothing strange had happened. Ikumi was thoroughly confused who this man was. The two males had to know each other well if they were on a given name basis. The man adjusted his glasses.

"Just passing through." he said. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the truth either. Ryuken had actually thought about going to see Uryu. Since they were on break from school, he thought it might be a good opportunity to check on the boy and see how he was handling everything that happened. However when he got to Uryu's apartment, he realized the male was gone. He assumed that him and the others went to see Ichigo, so he had headed home. Yet he found himself walking by the Kurosaki clinic, for some reason or another.

"Yeah sure, why don't you come in for a cup of tea? You can too miss." he offered. Both of them looked like they were going to refuse.

"That sounds like a great idea!" came a new voice. Ikumi saw the silver haired man grimace heavily before she turned to see a light blonde man wearing a strange hat. Isshin didn't seem to mind the random people showing up at his home and moved aside. Kisuke gently pushed the two into the place before following them in himself. Ikumi decided it would be rude if she just left, and a cup of tea wouldn't be too much time out of her life.

Ryuken meanwhile was thinking there was no problem with just turning around and storming out of the clinic without even a goodbye. However when he looked down at the plaque in his hands, he changed his mind. Isshin must feel so lonely right now. His wife had died and now his son was gone. Ryuken didn't know if the boy had left the plaque on purpose or not, but this had been the boy's substitute shinigami badge. Him leaving it behind was like a sign of saying he was no longer going to be a substitute. He would either be the real thing, or nothing of it at all. In the end the boy had followed after his fathers steps.

Ryken placed the badge onto the table and sat down stiffly beside Kisuke. Another face that Ryuken didn't care to see. He was easily annoyed by both Isshin and Kisuke. After all the two males were over a hundred years. To them, he was still a child who had barley made his fourth decade. Yet out of the three of them, Ryuken was the most serious, calm, and composed. He didn't even know why he continued to associate with them, after all he avoided them both quite successfully after Misaki had left. That was until Uryu befriended Ichigo.

"How are things with your son?" Isshin decided to ask. Ikumi and Ryuken both looked up at him.

"Fine." they both said shortly. Then they looked at each other, not knowing who Isshin had been trying to talk to.

"Oh, you have a son too? How old is he?" Isshin asked, sounding excited. She winced.

"He's ten." she said. He nodded. She turned to Ryuken.

"You have a son as well?" she asked.

"He's the same age as Ichigo." Isshin explained. Ikumi nodded. These men must be parents of Ichigo's friends. It was odd to see parents of teenagers hanging out though. Judging from the looks the silver haired man had she assumed they were not all happy about the arrangement. She tried to think over all of the friends of Ichigo's she had met. She didn't really met them, only seen them a few times. There was one who looked very similar to the silver haired man that she saw once. He and Ichigo had been yelling at each other, but not in an angry argument, more like a childish one that good friends would get into from time to time. She smiled.

"What?" Ryuken asked a little shortly.

"I was just thinking, children are wonderful things." she said. Isshin smiled and nodded.

"They are arn't they? How are you and your son doing by they way? You getting along any better?" Isshin asked, putting a cup of tea in front of each of them. Ryuken looked down at it, a small smile on his lips.

"I wonder." he mused.

xxx

Sado smiled as he watched the others talking. They had all met up again, this time staying the night at the eleventh division. It was strangely nice. The division was rough and the men wanted to fight and party, but they were also very well disciplined. They were cheering and feasting, while the other guests were moving around and trying to not be a focus point.

"You should go talk to people. I'm sure there are others you want to see." Shuhei said, plopping down next to him. Sado just hummed, showing that he acknowledged the statement, however he wasn't going to agree or disagree. There were plenty of people he knew but he rather liked watching people interact. The fukutaichou sighed.

"Hisagi-sempai, Sado, come have a drink with us!" Renji called. He was sitting with Ikkaku, Rangiku, Yumichika, Izuru, Shunsui, Kenpachi, and Kensei. Shuhei nodded and headed over, getting a friendly slap on the back from his taichou who proceeded to hand him a drink. Sado merely waved off the invite. He wasn't old enough to drink anyway. He glanced around, trying to locate his friends.

Orihime and Tatsuki were talking to Momo and Nanao. Orihime had been branching out more to the other female Shinigami, trying to talk to ones she hadn't much before. Mizuiro was near them, talking to Isane, Kiyone, Mashiro, and Lisa. Sado could see he was trying to flirt with them, but only Lisa recognized this and was playing back. Keigo looked a little put out and was currently being very intimidated by Yoruichi and SoiFon. Ichigo and Rukia were talking with Uryu, probably going over finer details of the situation. Sado decided to go see them, since they were quitter.

He approached the three who sensed him coming and waved him over encouragingly. "So what do you think Chad?" Ichigo asked. Sado tilted his head to the side.

"About?" he asked. Ichigo gestured around them.

"Anything." he said. Honestly he was trying to start a conversation. He hadn't seen any of them in so long and really just wanted to see how things were going.

"I work at the pet store. It's nice." Sado said. Ichigo nodded with a smile. "And you?" he asked. Rukia shrugged.

"He's not bad, for being new at being a seated officer." she responded for him. Then she looked at the others. "You guys could also join too if you wanted." she said. Uryu shook his head, as did Sado.

"We're not Shinigami, we're just humans. We don't belong here." Uryu offered. Rukia nodded and shrugged. It was worth a shot.

"So what are you going to do when you graduate?" she asked. Ichigo looked at the two of them, curious. Sado looked at the ground in thought.

"I would like to be a police officer." Sado said. He had been thinking about it long and hard, but that was what he decided on. Sado wanted to continue protecting others, that was what his fists were for. However there wasn't a lot of jobs left for people to do that. He could go into the medical field, but that wasn't him. He couldn't heal people. He was designed to protect them before they got hurt. He could be a police officer or a fireman. Either of those would do well. He could continue to use his strength to help others and keep them safe. Uryu and Orihime may still need him in the future anyway, so he would still be there. Uryu meanwhile just shrugged.

"I suppose I will be going to college." he said. Ichigo was confused now. Ever since he learned who Uryu's father was, he had always assumed Uryu would be a doctor. Yet when he asked the male a while back he made it quite clear that he would never become a doctor. It could have something to do with his strained relationship with his father, and maybe the two were getting along now.

"What for?" he decided to ask. It wasn't coming out and saying 'Hey, did you change your mind' but from the look on Uryu's face he might as well have said that.

"For now, nothing special. I will get all of my general studies out of the way first, then decide." he said. So he still had no intention of being a doctor. Sado seemed to pick up on that too.

"Are you and your father getting along?" Sado asked. Uryu looked caught off guard by the question, but then he smiled as he looked down.

"I wonder." he mused. The others realized the conversation was closed.

xxx

"So what are you two going to be doing?" asked Nanao. It was getting time to start planning out ones future after all. Humans had a much shorter lifespan than a soul. Tatsuki smirked.

"I already decided. I'm a karate teacher." Tatsuki said. Of course she would continue to participate in competitions, but she wanted to teach people how to take care of themselves. The world was a big and dangerous place, so she would make sure those that were going into it would be able to survive whatever life threw at them. Not only that, but it was all thanks to her karate experience that she had the friends she did. She had met Ichgio because he started going to the same dojo as her. She met Orihime because she had the abilities to help the girl. After those two, the others just followed. She wanted to return the favor.

The two of them looked at Orihime. She looked down in though. There was a lot of things she wanted to do. She wanted to go to space, to travel the world. She wanted to work at the bakery, to be a business woman. She had so many things she wanted to do, things that wouldn't be able to be done in her life time. She wanted to have many lives, just so she could do a few of them. It seemed strange, to have to set her life to one thing. The others weren't very sure either. Honestly it wasn't something she had put a lot of thought into. Truthfully her, Ichigo, Uryu, and Sado hadn't thought they were going to live through the Quincy issue to even have a future. Now there was a million roads ahead of her. Which one should she choose.

"I wonder." she said, a smile playing onto her lips.


	11. Graduation

Ochi sighed as she watched Uryu, Orihime, Sado, Keigo, Tatsuki, and Mizuiro gather at the end of the graduation ceremony. They were no longer her students, but rather mature adults about to go out into the world. She was happy to find that she wasn't surprised by their post graduation plans. After all, it meant as a teacher she had an excellent understanding of her students. Tatsuki, Uryu, and Mizuiro were all going to Tokyo University. Tatsuki was going to study teaching before returning to the Isshin Dojo as a full time karate teacher. She was also keeping her career in the competitive side, wanting to become the strongest woman in Japan. Mizuiro was going for economics. He was going to make his own business, the boy had the intelligence for it. Uryu had yet to outright say what he wanted to go for, and many students assumed it would be medical school, but Ochi knew that wasn't the boy. He liked to help people, but she knew from how he acted every time someone brought it up that he didn't like the idea of being a doctor. He would probably go for design. Orihime meanwhile was going to a vocational school for cooking. She had a long list of things she wanted to be, but she thought that would be the easiest starting point. As for Sado and Keigo, they were going to join the police academy together.

It seemed such a shame, to stand here and watch these six having made it to the end, but not getting to see the rest. Ichigo, Rukia, Chizuru, and the others had all worked so hard but she would not get to see the fruits of their labor. It was a bittersweet day. Now she would have all new students and watch them grow. The teens laughter caused her to look again. She could see Uryu's father standing nearby, a displeased look on his face as Ichigo's father took another picture of the group. Tatsuki's parents along with Keigo's stood nearby, watching them with smiles and Keigo's older sister looked like she was so proud.

xxx

"Dad! That's enough pictures!" Karin scolded her father as he took another one of the graduates.

"But Ichigo will want to see them!" Isshin protested, looking down at the camera.

"Speaking of which, why did you even come. It wasn't any of your children graduating." Ryuken said with an icy tone. Uryu gave his father a reproachful look wondering why he would be so cold to his friend who was clearly sad that his son couldn't be there, but Isshin just smiled.

"They are all like my children! They have all been coming to my home for the last few years. It's not just Ichigo I'm proud of. Oh that reminds me, I only got one picture of Uryu's speech!" Isshin said, turning back to the camera. As the Student body president and the top of the graduating class Uryu was one of the ones that had to give a speech. He didn't really want to do it, but Orihime said it would be great, so he did it for her.

Honestly the teens were surprised they managed to graduate. After they first went to the Soul Society to rescue Rukia; Uryu, Orihime, and Sado hadn't really thought about graduating high school as an option. They were just trying to survive. Then Tatsuki, Keigo, and Mizuiro got pulled into it as well. During the Quincy incident, Uryu had even given up on having a life, choosing to die to protect his friends. This was a day that didn't seem real until they stood here.

"Are we late?!" yelled Ichigo as he, Rukia, and Renji came charging in, wearing their shihakusho's. The teens figured they were in their spirit forms, so no one but them could see the three shinigami.

"Just a little." Mizuiro said. Ichigo frowned.

"I told you we should have left earlier!" Rukia yelled at him.

"Yeah yeah, I'm an idiot I know." Ichigo yelled back. Renji ignored them and turned to the graduates.

"Congratulations you guys." he offered. Ryuken scowled and pulled out a cigarette.

"Hey, you can't smoke in here." Isshin told his long time friend, but the elderly Quincy glared and pulled out a lighter, lighting the cigarette and taking a deep inhale. He wasn't going to be rude to the shinigami, they were Uryu's friends after all and he was trying to patch things up with the boy. However if he was going to tolerate their presence he needed a cigarette.

"Thank you Renji! I'm so glad you all made it!" Orihime said excitedly. Renji scratched the back of his head. He thought about telling her about Rangiku and the other women shinigami sending her their regards, or about how they had been planning on sneaking off to see their graduation but Byakuya must have known because he actually met them this morning to tell them to just go, but he decided not to tell her any of that. It wasn't necessary.

"Come on, let's go celebrate!" Rukia yelled, grabbing Orihime and Uryu's arms and pulling them away. Ichigo nodded to Sado, putting his hands on his sisters heads and steering them after the others, Mizuiro, Keigo, and Tatsuki behind them. Renji looked at Isshin, Ryuken, and the other confused parents who were completely lost on why Mizuiro and Orihime started talking to air and then the six kids left with no explanation of anything.

"Are you coming?" he asked. Isshin glanced over at Ryuken then smiled back at Renji.

"Nah, you kids have fun." he said. Renji nodded and took off after the others. Ryuken let out another long breath of smoke.

"What do you say we go and get some food?" Isshin asked Ryuken. The silver haired man glared at him and through the cigarette to the ground.

"Are you paying?" he asked in a tone that said he would refuse otherwise. Isshin chuckled.

"Sure." he agreed.

 **So I've been away for a while, I'm sorry. This semester was a lot more difficult for me than I thought it would be. I thought I had taken an easier math but ended up struggling majorly in it. However I pulled off a good grade so I'm really happy! Anyway, I hope you're all doing well and for any of you that haven't heard there is apparently going to be two new bleach novels. The first is about Rukia and Renji's wedding, which is cool and all, but I'm way more excited for the other one that is coming out in the spring! It's all about Shuhei!**


	12. The night before

Sado looked around the pet shop. This was the last time he would be in here, getting ready to head to the academy and start his adult life. The animals seemed to sense something was wrong. As he fed the cats, they came up to the cage and put their heads against his hands. He smiled as he pet them. "You all be good." he told them, before turning to feed the bunnies. They also seemed a little down. As he finally turned back to the door he hesitated to go out of it.

For a long time Ichigo had been by his side. The two of them fought together, got along together, and were just best friends. Ichigo was the first real friend Sado ever had. Then the orange haired boy opened his up to a whole world he would never have known. Yet it was scary. Ichigo was no longer beside him. Although now that he thought about it Ichigo never really was beside him, at least not since he met Rukia. Ichigo had been in front of him, leading the way. Now he was no longer there. Sado still had his other friends but it wasn't the same. He and Ichigo had a special friendship and while they were still friends, Sado would be getting into trouble by himself now. It was an overwhelming thought and he felt maybe if he didn't walk out that door he wouldn't have to face it.

"Hey Chad! Are you coming?!" Keigo called from outside of the shop, and Sado took a deep breath. It was foolish of him to think he was alone, even for a minute. Keigo wasn't like Ichigo however. Keigo chased after Ichigo and Sado, which meant the roles were now reversed. Instead on Sado having a person to stand closely behind, now he was leading someone else. He reached for the door again.

"Yeah." he called, ready to try this.

xxx

Tatsuki looked around her empty room. Everything was packed away and there was hardly anything left. She would be living in the dorms now. She was nervous, but knew she wasn't alone. Uryu and Mizuiro were going to the same school and they already had a class together. Orihime would be around a lot since she was going to school nearby as well. Yet there was that heavy feeling, the feeling that she was going out on her own. She wondered if that was how Orihime felt right now. At least the others had people they knew. Sado and Keigo were training together, and she had the other two. Even Ichigo was with Rukia. Would Orihime be alright?!

The doorbell rang, interrupting her thoughts. "Coming!" Tatsuki yelled, running down the stairs. She wasn't sure who it could be. She reached the door and pulled it open to see Uryu and Orihime on her porch. "Orihime...Ishida..." she was confused. Orihime coming to her house was no surprise, the girl practically lived there at times. However in all the time they had known each other, neither Tatsuki nor Uryu had been to each others homes.

"I thought you might want some help packing, so I rushed right over!" Orihime said with a smile. Tatsuki nodded, accepting that answer but it still didn't explain why Uryu was with her. Uryu seemed to read her expression because he adjusted his glasses and spoke up.

"I was walking home from the store when I ran into Inoue and she asked me to come help." That explained it. Tatsuki knew Uryu had never been able to refuse anything Orihime asked him to do. Tatsuki glanced up the stairs.

"Thank's for your help guys, but it's pretty much done." she said. Orihime deflated for a second, like she had been really looking forward to helping Tatsuki pack, then she smiled.

"Alright, then let's go out and get dinner together! We can invite the others too!" she cheered. Uryu gave her a soft smile and Tatsuki knew she would have to give in. She supposed her and Uryu had at least one thing in common after all, they couldn't turn down Orihime.

"Alright, let me get my wallet." Tatsuki said.

xxx

Mizuiro finished backing his bags and looked at the white walls. He didn't tell his mother his post graduation plans. He doubted she'd even notice if he was gone. He didn't even know when she would be back home. His thoughts began to wonder to his future. It was a little scary, having to step out that door. For a long time Keigo had been by his side. The guy was an idiot, but he meant well and even though Mizuiro always brushed him off, he never seemed to take it personally. It was like Keigo was intent on making sure Mizuiro never felt completely alone. Then they met Ichigo.

Ichigo hadn't even meant to, but he forced Mizuiro to open up to the others. Now Mizuiro felt a comfort from the fact that Tatsuki and Uryu would be around, despite the fact he hardly knew them. He was concerned about Keigo though. Would the idiot be alright without Mizuiro around? He was sure nothing physically bad would happen to him, after all he would be near Sado and the man would never let harm come to anyone. However he still worried about Keigo. It took him a while to figure out it wasn't so much Keigo making new friends that made him worried, but the idea that Keigo would forget him and the others. However he quickly banished that thought from his mind. There was no way in the world that Keigo would forget them.

Mizuiro looked at the clock. He still had a whole night before he could leave to his new home. It was these times that he hated the most. The waiting. Like when they waited for Ichigo and the others to return. Or when they waited for Ichigo to wake from his coma. He always hated the anxiety that came with it. Suddenly his phone lit up and he looked at the caller ID. It was Orihime texting him. Mizuiro picked up the phone and looked at the text. She wanted him to come have dinner with her and the others. A small smile came over his face. He could think of much worse ways to spend his night. The top of that list was not accepting this invite.


	13. Uses of food

"Augh! This doesn't make any sense!" Keigo yelled, throwing the book aside. Sado glanced over at him, but did nothing more. He knew Keigo well enough to know the male was just getting started. They both lived in the dormitories at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Academy. Since they were only High school graduates they had to stay for the ten month training course. Currently they were six months into the training. Keigo was doing well in most subjects, but there were still a few that gave him trouble. Once he got frustrated he would go off, and most of the time Sado just let him go. "Why don't we go visit the others? We can take a break and they're not far away!" Keigo suggested.

"They are an hour away, and they are testing this week." Sado pointed out. They hadn't seen the others much, maybe three times since they all set out to do their own things, and they hadn't seen Ichigo or any other Shinigami even once. If Sado had to be honest about it, he didn't mind it. They could all focus on their chosen courses and then when they meet up later they can surprise each other by how much they had grown. Keigo meanwhile did not share this view and instead pouted.

"Hey Chad, where do you want to go?" Keigo asked. Sado gave him a confused look.

"Go? Nowhere, I want to stay here and finish this assignment." he responded, holding up his copy of the book that Keigo threw to emphasis his point. Keigo meanwhile let out a very annoyed sigh.

"No! I mean where do you want to go when we graduate? Do you want to get a job as a police officer back in Karakura town? Or do you want to go somewhere else entirely. Sado seemed surprised by the question. Truthfully he hadn't even thought about that. He could return to Karakura Town and be an officer there, but he could also go anywhere else he wanted to go. His friends weren't a factor in this decision, since they would find a way to see each other no matter where they were. Sado shrugged.

"Does it matter yet?" he asked. Keigo just retrieved the book and started going threw it again. Sado could see he was concentrating very hard, but even he had to admit he was a little burnt out as well. Sado closed the book with a snap, getting Keigo's attention. "Let's go get dinner. There's a nice restaurant nearby we haven't tried yet." he offered. It was a peace offering. Keigo nodded.

"Sure, but your paying." Keigo said. Sado just smiled and nodded.

xxx

"Hey Ishida do you have anything to drink? This is taking longer than we thought." Tatsuki spoke up from her spot on the floor next to Orihime. Mizuiro nodded in agreement, leaning against Uryu's bed. Uryu tried to control his frustrations. He liked the three of them, and he enjoyed their company. However he didn't understand why they always had to use his place every time they met up. He had asked multiple times in the past if they could go to one of their places the next time they would meet, but they always gave some half hearted excuse why they couldn't, then showed up at his door a few days later.

"Sure." he decided, leaving to get what they requested. Tatsuki immediately turned to Orihime, giving her a big smile.

"You should ask him." she said. Orihime gave her a confused look, but Mizuiro looked as if he knew this was coming.

"Ask him? What?" Orihime asked, giving the two a completely lost look.

"You should ask him to take you out to dinner. You could use the break anyway." Tatsuki said with a smile. Orihime turned red.

"What?! I can't do that!" she protested. Mizuiro sighed.

"This is why I like older girls, they handle things like this so much better." he mused. Tatsuki rolled her eyes at him before turning back to Orihime.

"I didn't say anything before because you were still hung up over Ichigo, but now you've moved on." she said. Orihime scowled.

"It's not like that Tatsuki!" she protested. Tatsuki looked surprised. Orihime had been her friend for a long time now. She had gotten good at reading the girl. She knew that Orihime had been devastated at first when Ichigo left. However that soon began to change, slowly at first. It was because Uryu had noticed and was trying to help her. Orihime didn't notice when but she had began to fall for the bespectacled male. Yet now she was claiming Tatsuki got it wrong?

"What do you mean?" Tatsuki asked.

"I...I don't want to complicate things." Orihime started. that was part of the reason she never acted on her feelings for Ichigo. She knew Ichigo had to focus on what needed to be done. She couldn't be an obstacle. Then she realized he never would have noticed her because he focus was solely on Rukia. So now she was afraid. Afraid that somehow things would end up similar with Uryu.

"You know he adores you right?" Mizuiro spoke up. Orihime turned even redder.

"What?" she asked. Mizuiro sighed, as if this conversation was boring him.

"He's been hung up over you for a long time. Since you guys first returned from the Soul Society to save Rukia. You're the only one he's ever even looked at." Mizuiro said. Orihime turned to Tatsuki and she nodded, confirming Mizuiro's words. The door opened as Uryu returned, a few can's of drinks in his hands. He handed the tea to Tatsuki and Orihime before dropping a coffee into Mizuiro's lap and opening a second one for himself.

"Oh, well look at the time. I should be going." Tatsuki said with a stretch, making Orihime freak out. Uryu gave her an odd look as she stood up, Mizuiro standing up as well.

"We'll see you later Ishida, Inoue." he agreed. Uryu just gave them a nod, showing he acknowledged them leaving, and Orihime looked between them frantically. The two just left. Orihime glanced over at Uryu, who was doing his assignment again.

"Uhm Ishida..." Orihime started, and he looked up at her, waiting to hear what she wanted.

"Would you...I think I need a break. Let's go eat together." she said quickly. Uryu looked confused for a second, then nodded.

"Alright, I'm sure the cafeteria is open, but I also have stuff here you can eat." he said. Orihime felt panic set in. Maybe they were wrong and he didn't like her. Then the possibility that he misunderstood occurred to her. Uryu was as oblivious to these kinds of things as she usually was. Orihime decided to try one more time.

"No I mean...let's go somewhere, just us two." she said. Uryu looked at her for a second, then he started to turn red. Could he be misunderstanding, or was she asking him to take her out?

"Sure...wh...where would you like to go?" he asked. Uryu didn't know if she was asking him out as friends or maybe something more. Orihime smiled and took his hand.

"Let's go." she said, and the two left.

xxx

Ichigo lowered the bokken, wiping the sweat from his face with his sleeve. "Ha! That was pathetic!" Renji taunted from the side lines, watching the sparring match between Ichigo and Ikkaku.

"What do you mean pathetic! I won!" Ichigo snapped at him. Renji just gave him a huge smirk.

"It was sloppy." he said. Ichigo felt his anger flare. He was about to challenge the red heat to a fight, telling him to show him a 'less sloppy' way to fight.

"As if you do any better?" Rukia asked, kicking her childhood friend from behind and knocking him out of his seat. Ichigo smirked, proud of her. Renji gripped dirt in his fists out of frustration before climbing back to his feet.

"I can do better! I was fighting before his mother was even born!" he defended himself.

"And yet you can't beat me in a fight." Ichigo taunted. Ikkaku chuckled as he could see the blood vessels in Renji's head break.

"Come on Renji, let's go see what Yumichika needs." the third seat called. He enjoyed watching them fight, but sometimes they all needed to just cool their heads. Renji smiled, happy for any reason to visit the eleventh division and nodded. The two left, leaving the thirteenth division officers alone.

"Come on fool, you need a shower and you look like you could use something to eat." Rukia said, a genuine smile on her face.

"Yeah." Ichigo agreed.

xxx

"You really are a fool. What possessed you all to think you can just show up to my home?" Ryuken asked in a very irritated voice. Isshin, Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Ikumi stood outside of his front door, Tessai holding a large container behind him.

"Now now Ishida, that's no way to treat your guests." Kisuke rebuked as Isshin pushed by Ryuken to enter his home. Ryuken watched as the others followed. Isshin had been dropping by an awful lot since the children went away. He had mentioned the last time that he had come by that he had started up a friendship with Ikumi, since his son did work for her. Ryuken just never believed he would bring her and the Urahara bunch to his place. He knew there was no point in telling them to leave, since they would just stay anyway. He could ignore them, but Isshin had ways of demanding attention. Ryuken decided to see what they wanted.

As soon as he entered his dinning room he was met by a surprise. Tessai had finished setting up a large meal, set for all them. So they wanted him to eat with them. Ryuken felt the beginning of a headache. "I'll see if I have any drinks to offer you." he said, turning towards the kitchen.

"It's fine Ishida, we brought drinks." Yoruichi spoke up. Ryuken bit back the 'of course you did' response. It wouldn't get him anywhere with this group.

"Well then, let's eat." Isshin said with a grin. Ryuken nodded, figuring it was the fastest way to get them out of his home. Yet even though he felt annoyed, it wasn't the only feeling he had. He felt a little grateful. to be honest he missed Uryu. The two had started to rebuild their relationship since he had returned from the Quincy's dimension. He was hoping all would be well with the boy and nowadays it was the only thought that entered his mind. This event was a welcome distraction.

"I'm surprised at you Ishida. I thought you would have told us to leave by now." Kisuke teased from behind his fan. Ikumi looked at the two a little uneasily. While she had been on friendly terms with Isshin, the same couldn't be said for the others. She didn't know Yoruichi or Tessai, but she knew Kisuke seemed shady and Ryuken seemed like someone she wouldn't want to be on the bad side of. To hers, and the others surprise, Ryuken just smiled.

"I thought so too." he agreed.


End file.
